Secrets are a Girl's Best Friend
by fandomismylife
Summary: Victoria 'Tori' Bass. Twin of Chuck Bass and daughter of Bart Bass. She may not share the same evil demeanor as her brother, but Tori is just as conniving, always looking for some way to put herself above everyone else. When her closest friend, Serena, comes back to town, holding a secret that only Tori knows, how quickly will the life Tori has built fall apart? [ON HIATUS]
1. Chapter 1 - Pilot

The city flew by as the car sped down the road, the two occupants inside barely taking any notice of what was passing them, too deep in their thoughts to worry about their surroundings. Night had fallen hours ago, and yet, the city was still thriving, people walking the streets, others dancing in high end clubs, limos and taxis zooming about. After all, it is New York City, the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps. Serena stared out the window, her warm breath fogging it up as she tried her best to avoid eye contact with the girl sitting beside her.

"We're going to have to talk about this sooner or later," the girl said, trying to meet her friend's gaze unsuccessfully.

"There's nothing to talk about," Serena stated, her stare unwavering as she watched the world pass her by.

"He's dead Serena, there's nothing we can do about that now, but holding in your feelings about what happened isn't going to solve anything. Believe me, I know," the girl told her, taking a hold of Serena's hand, only for her to rip hers away, shifting her hard stare to the girl.

"You don't know anything! You could've said something, you could've stopped this. You were supposed to be my friend!" Serena shouted, taking the girl by surprise at the tone her voice had taken on.

"I was just as out of it as you were. You know I'm not the one to blame here! She is!" the girl snapped, returning her friend's threatening glare, her brown hair spilling over her face.

"That still doesn't change the fact that it happened, and you knew that it was going to happen," Serena mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.

"He did that stuff all the time Serena, neither of us could've known that he would react like he did. As far as I knew, that had never happened to him before," the girl said, her tone becoming softer, more comforting than threatening.

"Either way, I can't stay here. Even if that hadn't happened tonight, it still wasn't the worst thing I've done in the past six hours," Serena sniffed, fresh tears welling up in her eyes.

"It doesn't matter what you did. If you make amends now, instead of running away from your problems, you'll feel better for it," the girl assured her, gripping Serena's hand in hers again, only this time she didn't pull away.

"But what I did was unforgiveable. How could anyone forgive me after what I did?" Serena questioned, more tears streaming down her face as she met her friend's gaze, looking more vulnerable than the girl had ever seen her.

"There's a reason you have friends Serena. No matter how bad something is, you will always be forgiven, even if it takes a little while for us to get over it, you know that we will make it through together," the girl reassured her with a weak smile, giving her friend's hand a squeeze.

"Not this time, this is something that can't be forgiven. I'm leaving. I can't face her, I just can't," Serena sobbed, her shoulders shaking as each sob escaped her. The girl quickly took Serena in her arms and held her close, not planning to let go of her friend until she had settled down.

"You don't have to do it right now. Why don't you come home with me, and we can figure out what to do in the morning. Sound good?" the girl asked, seeing her building coming up fast, waiting for her friend to give a reply.

"Ok," Serena replied, just as the taxi came to a stop at the hotel's front step.

"Everything is going to be okay," the girl assured her, pulling away from her friend to get out, only for Serena to stop her.

"Thanks. For everything you've done," she said with a weak smile, her hands shaking slightly against the cold night air.

"You're my best friend. I'd do anything for you," the girl beamed stepping out of the car. As she turned around to help Serena out of the car, the door slammed shut, and Serena gave her an apologetic look, before the taxi pulled away, leaving the girl standing on the side of the road.

"Serena! Wait, Serena!" the girl shouted, watching in horror as her friend drove away, probably never going to see her ever again. She pulled out her phone and tried to call her friend, each ring making her worry more and more as they blasted in her ear. If she was being honest, each ring was getting louder and louder, blasting into her ear as the seconds ticked by. When she put her phone down and the rings still kept going, she turned around to find the source of the noise, not being able to find it.

"Tori?" a voice said, seeming to come from thin air, barely audible amongst the blaring of the rings in the girl's ears.

"Tori," the voice said again, sound slightly louder this time, but not loud enough to drown out the ringing in her ear, which was starting to sound more like an alarm, now that the girl really listened.

"Tori! For goodness sake, wake up!" Tori shot up in bed, hearing something fall to floor with a thump She looked around the quickly, taking in her strange surroundings, not recognizing the bedroom she had woken up in. It took her a few seconds to realize she was in the Waldorf's guest room, having slept over the previous night, so that she could go to party with her closest friend, and enemy, Blair.

"Blair? Are you in here?" Tori asked, searching the room for her friend, assuming it was her that had woken Tori up only a few seconds ago. Next thing she knew, Blair's head popped up from the side of the bed, making Tori jump at her sudden appearance.

"If you must know, I'm on the floor. No thanks to you," Blair snapped, pulling herself to her feet, using the bed to stable herself once she was standing up again.

"Sorry about that, it took me a while to fall asleep," Tori yawned, stretching her arms above her head, running her fingers through her hair, groaning when she found an uncountable amount of knots.

"Don't care why you took so long, all I care about is that we are going to miss my mother's party if you don't get up right now and get dressed," Blair said calmly, stepping away from the bed and throwing open the closest doors. She started skimming through the many dresses Tori had left there from her last visit, this room being Tori's home away from home, when she just couldn't go home and face her family, even if her father and brother didn't lived in the same room as her.

"Are you sure we have to go? We could just stay here and sleep all day," Tori suggested, throwing off the covers and swinging her feet over the edge, walking over to stand beside Blair as she rummaged through Tori's clothes.

"You already slept in longer than you should have, going to a party where your friends are won't kill you," Blair told her, pushing a knee-length, navy blue dress into Tori's arms, bending down to find her some shoes.

"But it's just going to be a bunch of adults standing around drinking champagne and talking about who's business is bigger than whose," Tori whined, giggling a little when she realized the double meaning of what she said. Blair gave her a strange look as she shoved a pair of black pumps into her hands, closing the door to turn and face her friend.

"We all know that your father has the biggest business of them all, and I mean actual business, not what your perverted mind is conjuring up. I swear, you're just like Chuck," Blair said, shivering slightly at the mention of Tori's twin's name.

"How dare you compared me to Chuck, I am not just like him. I'm worse," Tori laughed, receiving a playful shove from Blair before she walked out of the room, leaving to get herself dressed, ready for the party. Just as Tori stepped towards the bathroom to start getting ready, she heard her phone vibrate at the end of the bed. She quickly walked over and picked it up, rolling her eyes at the message from her brother, sounding just as insufferable as he always did. She threw her phone back onto the bed and stepped back over to the bathroom, her dream fresh in her mind as she closed the door behind her, ready for the day to begin.

 _Careful T. Everyone knows that dreams will always come back to haunt you, one way or another, and this haunting may be happening sooner than you think._

* * *

"Am I the only one that finds this party to be positively boring," Kati moaned, slumping down on the couch next to Chuck, who also had Isabel on his other side, the two girls pouting as they looked at the party around them.

"Be glad that you were even invited. After the stunt you pulled last week, you're lucky Blair even allowed you to come," Tori snapped, pushing Kati out of her newly claimed seat, so that she could sit beside her brother, leaving Kati to perch on the edge of the couch's arm.

"You're certainly in a bitter mood today sis. Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Chuck smirked, his smiled only becoming wider when Tori shoved him into Isabel.

"No, I slept perfectly last night, thank you. But then I realized I was related to you, and the day took a downward spiral from there," Tori bit back, getting laughs out of the girls, you shut up when Tori met their eyes.

"No need to exaggerate sis, you're usually in a good mood, even if I'm finding someone to make your day all the more interesting. What's up?" he asked, seeming to be genuinely interested in what was wrong with his sister.

"If you must know, I had a restless night last night. My dreams weren't exactly filled with puppy dogs and candy canes," Tori admitted, falling back to rest her, staring up at the ceiling.

"You still dream about those things?" Chuck chuckled, getting a more playful shove from his sister, rather than a forceful one.

"Of course not. I guess I must've been remembering something that happened a long time ago," Tori told him, glancing over to see Blair practically dragging Nate, her boyfriend, and my best guy friend, towards one of the empty bedrooms.

"Nathaniel. Any interest in some fresh air?" Chuck asked, miming smoking to his friend, completely forgetting about what I was trying to say.

"When I get back?" Nate asked, smiling a hidden smile at Tori, before Blair started pulling him through the open door.

"If he gets back," Blair called over her shoulder, closing the door behind her, leaving their activities to Tori's imagination. Just as her mind started to conjure up thoughts that she really didn't want to be picturing, her phone started to vibrate. She picked it up and had a look at her screen, smiling when she saw that there was a new post from Gossip Girl, the Upper East Side's very own gossip hub.

 _Hey Upper East Siders, Gossip Girls here, and I have the biggest news ever. One of my many sources, Melanie91, sends us this: Spotted Grand Central, bags in hand. Serena van der Woodsen. Was it only a year ago our It girl mysteriously disappeared for, quote 'boarding school', and just as suddenly, she's back. Don't believe me? See for yourself. Lucky for us, Melanie91 sent proof. Thanks for the photo Mel._

"Oh my god, you'll never believe what's on gossip girl," Kati practically squealed

"Someone just saw Serena getting off of a train at Grand Central," Isabel said, her tone almost mirroring her friend's.

"Good, things were getting a little dull around here," Chuck droned, swirling his drink around in its cup absent-mindedly. Serena was back. After a year of being missing, she had finally come back to New York, back to the Upper East Side. No one knew the real reason she had moved away to Connecticut for boarding school, why she had suddenly up and left all her family and friends. They all thought she must've gone on a bender, having been known as the resident party girl, everyone just assumed she was covering for going to rehab. Maybe hiding from the law, or something stupid like that. Only Tori knew the real reason Serena had run away. Only she knew what had happened that night.

"Guess things won't be dull for much longer," Tori smirked, standing up from the couch to go find herself something to drink. For the next half hour, while she waited for her friend to inevitable show up, Tori decided to mingle with some of the other guests, spending most of her time talking to Lily, Serena's mom. She, like Eleanor, Blair's mom, was like the mother I never had, being the role model I need in m life after my mother had died giving birth to me and Chuck. I could always find something to talk about with her. While I was in the middle of a conversation with Eleanor, I turned my head at the sound of a name I hadn't heard Lily say in almost a year.

"Serena darling." Tori fixed her gaze on her old friend, her back currently turned away from her as she hugged her long lost mother, the pair having been separated for as long as she had been from Serena.

"Will you excuse me," Tori said, stepping away from Eleanor to approach Serena, thousands of thoughts swimming through her mind as she tried to figure out what she would say to her long lost friend. Just as she was about to reach her, Serena turned around and met Tori's eyes, a sad smile coming to her face when she realized who she was looking at.

"Tori," Serena smiled, instantly pulling her friend into a tight hug, a hug that had been long overdue between the pair.

"I missed you, you bitch," Tori whispered, pulling away to flash her friend a smile.

"I missed you too bitch," Serena smiled back, her gaze moving past Tori to look behind her. Tori stepped away to see Blair looking out from the other side of the door, a flash of disgust crossing her face for a split second, before she broke out in a fake smile, approaching her once close friend.

"Hi, Serena, it's so good to see you" she said, pulling Serena into a quick hug, which ended just as quickly as it had begun.

"It's good to see you," Serena smiled, seeming sadder than when she had arrived.

"Come, we're about to have dinner," Blair told her, pulling her away down the hall, with Tori not far behind.

"I'll set place on the table for you next to Blair," Eleanor said, smiling warmly at Serena, flashing Tori a smile as well when she saw how happy she looked.

"Yeah, actually there's somewhere I have to go," Serena said apologetically, giving Tori an apologetic look.

"You're leaving?" Blair asked through gritted teeth, her distaste evident in her voice, something Tori had picked up on as the pair had grown closer, without Serena between them.

"Yeah, I just don't feel well. I just wanted to come by and say hi. I'll see you guys at school tomorrow," Serena told them, turning away to walk back to the exit. And just like that, she had left just as quickly as she had returned. Why had she come back now? After a year of being away at boarding, why had she chosen now of to come back? Tori didn't care how long it took, she would get some answers out of Serena, even if it meant waiting until school the next day.

"School. So I guess she's back for good," Blair mumbled, slumping against the wall next to Kati and Isabel, glancing at me when I walked over and stood next to her.

"Didn't you know she was coming?" Kati asked hopefully, interest in her eye, wondering if there was finally something that Blair Waldorf herself hadn't seen coming.

"Course I did. I just wanted it to be a surprise," Blair replied, forcing another fake smile onto her face to keep up appearances for her minions. She quickly walked away to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her, as Isabel and Kati went back on their phones, sending off a tip to Gossip Girl about Serena's arrival and departure.

"And here I was thinking that I was never going to be able to overthrow the Queen Bee," Tori smirked, an idea forming in her head.

"What do you mean?" Isabel asked, Tori's words pulling her attention away from the screen of her phone, hers and Kati's interests having been piqued.

"You both know how much Blair hates Serena right now, and with hate, comes vulnerability. Blair will be so focused on avoiding Serena wherever possible, that she won't be able to protect herself from being overthrown," Tori explained, taking the bittersweet return of her friend and turning it into her own power grab. No one ever said she couldn't be crafty and a bitch at the same time.

"But no one can overthrow Blair, no one ever has," Kati pointed out, exchanging a glance with Isabel in her confusion.

"There's a first time for everything ladies. Of course, I am only speaking in the hypothetical, so there's no need to be worried. I love Blair, she's my best friend, and she always will be. But what's the point of being friend's with a Queen, if you don't get a taste of the power she holds?" Tori grinned and started walking away, making eye contact with Nate before she mounted the stairs and walked down, needing a bit of fresh air. As she stepped out into the street, she was instantly hit with the ambience of the city, the city she had grown so fond of in her almost seventeen years of living. She heard the doors open behind her and she continued to walk, listening to the quickening steps of the person following her as she stepped out onto the sidewalk, smiling at any passerby's that looked in her direction.

"I take it you want to talk?" Tori turned her head to look at Nate, her smile staying plastered on her face as she met his hard gaze.

"I just wanted to find out where your head is at, now that Serena is back in town, after such a long trip," Tori smirked, looking out at the street, watching the cars speed by as she wrapped her coat tightly around her shoulders.

"If you're asking if I'm planning to tell Blair what happened that night, then your answer would be no, I won't be saying anything…" Nate trailed off, sounding like he wanted to say more but couldn't.

"But you really want to tell her, you need to tell her. Always love being the hero, don't you Archibald?" Tori teased, finally turning to face her friend, her face becoming a lot more serious than it had been mere seconds ago.

"What I felt back then was real. What if it's still real now?" he questioned, the inner turmoil plaguing his mind being easy for Tori to spot.

"If you had 'real feelings' for every girl you had kissed in your life that wasn't Blair, you and I would've started dating six months ago," Tori mocked, almost regretting bringing it up as the words left her mouth.

"I thought you didn't want to talk about the past anymore? Isn't that the whole point of this conversation?" he asked angrily, stepping a little too close to Tori for comfort.

"Yes it is. You don't want Blair to find out that you made the same mistake twice, and I don't want you getting in trouble with Chuck. If he found out what happened between us…" I trailed off, avoiding his gaze as I stared down at the pavement.

"But it was worth it at the time. I really did have feelings for you then," Nate reassured her, lifting her chin up so that she would look at him, only for Tori to pull away, starting to walk back towards the building.

"That was then Nate, and this is now. You're dating Blair, I'm happily single, and that is how it is going to stay. As much as I'd love to take away Blair's crown, losing her friendship because of one kiss isn't the way I plan to do it. You'll say nothing and I'll say nothing, and that's all there is too it. Understood?" Tori stopped in her tracks, turning around to look at Nate, his face a mask of sadness as he looked back at her.

"Understood."

 _Looks like T has more than one secret to keep away from her friends this year. Watch out T, keep a secret with an honest man and it won't stay a secret for long._

* * *

 **Hey everyone, it's me, yet again, after many months of being silent, I am attempting to jump back into writing.**

 **I know I've done this many times now, for those of you who have read my work before, but I hope to start doing a lot more now, since my Uni work slowly starting to die down.**

 **I will hopefully be working on this story, if you guys like it, and redoing the sequel to my TWD fanfic, since I wanted to take it in a different direction, and maybe starting work on a third, undecided story.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to more, I have a lot of plans for my character, along with two other OCs that will be introduced in this season, who will become my main OCs.**

 **Please review, follow and favorite, it would mean a lot if you did, so I can find out where I can improve.**

 **Thanks guys.**

 ** _You know you love me. XOXO. fandomismylife :)_**


	2. Chapter 2 - Somewhat Normal

"Can I get a tall caramel macchiato please?" Tori hand over her money to the cashier and stepped away from the counter, moving to stand beside the many other people that were still waiting to receive their order. Although it had taken a long bubble bath and an Elizabeth Taylor marathon to calm herself down, Tori had easily recovered from Serena's reappearance, ready to jump back into her life. Yes, it was going to be weird seeing her every day, but she knew that she would have to see Serena again sooner or later, so Tori just waited for the inevitable to hit her like a speeding train. A barista stepped up to the counter and called out a name, shortening the very long line, which didn't seem like it was going to be emptying anytime soon.

"Victoria Bass." Tori glanced over at the counter at the mention of her name and stepped forward, surprised that she was getting her order before the people that had been waiting a lot longer than she had. When she saw who it was that was serving her, she understood.

"Thanks James," Tori smiled seductively, winking at the barista before walking out of the store, the smile instantly dropping from her face as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. After making a quick mental note to find a different place to buy her morning coffee, Tori stepped up to her car and stepped into the back seat, asking her driver to bring her to the met. One thing that Tori was worried about, now that Serena was back, was what would happen when it came to Blair. Before Serena left, she and Blair were practically inseparable, always doing whatever they could as a pair, usually leaving Tori as the third wheel. In fact, the only reason she had ever been friends with Blair, was because she was friends with Serena. If Tori and Serena hadn't been friends, then Tori never would've gotten to know Blair, and actually grow to like her, happy to call Blair her best friend when Serena decided to vanish off of the face of the earth. So going back to Tori's original thought, what would happen to her and Blair, now that Blair's best friend was finally back in the picture? Would she dump Tori like yesterday's garbage? Or could their friendship more past the frenemy stage? Only time would tell. Soon, the car came to a stop and Tori hopped out of the car, waving to her driver as he drove away, ready to start the new day. She quickly walked over to the steps in front of the Met, smiling and waving at her friends as she sat down beside Blair.

"What took you so long? We've been sitting here for five minutes already," Blair complained, sipping from her own coffee simultaneously with Isabel and Kati.

"Wow, five minutes, I'll have to learn to set my alarm behind five minutes so I'm awake on time," Tori told her sarcastically, taking a sip of her own drink.

"No need to get snippy with me, it was just a simple question," Blair said, smiling a fake smile as she watched a freshmen girl approach us. Jenny Humphrey. Of all the girls that attended Constance, she seemed to least likely to be one of the top dogs of the school, not really seeming to have the right stuff to lead the student body. On the plus side, she was really sweet and kind, some traits that Tori had learned to appreciate over the short amount of time Tori had seen Jenny around school, and even helping out Blair, which no one ever refused to do.

"Hey girls, I've got your invites," she chirped happily, handing over a full box of envelopes to Blair, who started inspecting each and every one in turn, to make sure none of them were messed up.

"I'm sure they're fine Blair, you can trust Jenny," Tori reassured her, flashing Jenny a warm smile, just to make sure she didn't get too nervous around the imposing Waldorf.

"I'll be the judge of that," Blair muttered, staring down at the envelopes as she flipped through each one individually, leaving nothing out of place. When her inspection seemed to be over, Blair handed over some invites to Tori, Isabel and Kati, allowing them to make their own judgments on the quality of the invites.

"They're so cute," Kati gushed, opening the envelope to have a peak at the invite.

"They should be framed or something," Isabel agreed, reading through her invite, while subtly glancing at Blair, which both Kati and Tori did as well, waiting for her decision.

"Not bad work. And here's yours as promised," Blair smiled, an internal sigh of relief spreading through the girls as they continued looking over their invites.

"Maybe I'll have to hire you for when my birthday comes around. Could always use an extra hand," Tori offered, smiling when Jenny's face lit up.

"I would love to help," she exclaimed, an excited squeal entering her voice from all the attention.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself Tori. We still need to make sure she behaves herself at the party. Otherwise, she can kiss her social status goodbye," Blair barked, her signature menacing smile never leaving her face. Until Serena showed up that is.

"Hey, here you guys are, I looked all over the dining hall for you," Serena greeted before turning her attention to Jenny, introducing herself straight away. "Hi, I'm Serena."

"I know. I mean, hi, I'm Jenny," Jenny smiled, shaking Serena's hand lightly, by the latter turned to face her friends, all of whom were trying their best to avoid eye contact. Well, almost everyone.

"So, when's the party?" Serena asked, looking over one of the already opened invites. All the other girls present exchanged quick glances, their eyes doing all the communication they needed to do.

"Saturday, and you're kind of not invited. Since until twelve hours ago, everyone thought you were at boarding school, now we're full. And Jenny used up all the invites,"

"I'm sure Jenny can make an extra one for-" Tori began to suggest, before quieting down when she met Blair's eyes.

"Well actually-" Jenny began to agreed, before she was cut off by Blair again.

"You can go now," Blair suggested, smiling a fake smile up at the blonde Humphrey. After a quick smile to Tori and Serena respectively, Jenny stepped away from the group, making a beeline down the sidewalk towards school. Once Jenny had disappeared amongst the dozens of people milling around the sidewalk, Blair turned her attention back to Serena, her demeanor unchanged as she smiled up at her. "Sorry."

"No it's okay, I've got a lot of stuff to do anyway," Serena informed us calmly, her eyes glancing over at Tori for a few seconds before focusing on Blair again.

"Well, we should get going then," Blair announced, collecting her things and standing up, Tori and the girls following suit right after her. "Unless you want us to wait for you, looks like you got a lot of yogurt left."

"Go ahead," Serena smiled, impressing Tori with how calmly she was handling this interaction. Maybe Serena really had changed during her time in boarding school.

"Sorry," Tori whispered on her way past, quickening her pace to catch up to the girls.

"Blair, Tori, do you think we could meet tonight?" Serena asked, spinning on her heel to face the group of girls further down the steps.

"When should we-" Tori eagerly began to reply, a stern glare from Blair making her shut up.

"We'd love to. But I'm doing something with Nate tonight," Blair replied, glancing over at Tori, telling her to play along.

"And I'm having dinner with my father tonight. It's the one time during the month that he actually cares about eating with his children," Tori lied, weakly smiling up at Serena, wishing she could finally get the chance to talk to her.

"The Palace. Eight o'clock? Nate and your father will wait," Serena stated, completely ignoring what the two girls had said.

 _Spotted on the steps of the Met, an S and B power struggle, with poor little T stuck in the middle._

"I guess I could do a half hour," Blair reluctantly agreed, giving her approval to Tori to accept.

"Father likes to make us wait, so I guess he can wait on me for a change," Tori happily replied, flashing a quick smile at Serena, so that Blair wouldn't notice.

 _Did S think she could waltz home and things would be just like they were?_

"Thanks for making the time ladies," Serena smirked triumphantly, her first win fresh in her eyes.

"You're our best friend," Blair told her, her smile faltering ever so slightly.

 _Did B think S would go down without a fight? Or can these two hotties work it out? And what about T? Will she take her friend back so easily? There's nothing Gossip Girl likes more than a good catfight, and this could be a classic. Three for the price of one never seemed so sweet._

* * *

"Who does she think she is, ordering me to drop my dinner date with Nate, just so I can 'talk it out' with her. She's got some nerve," Blair seethed. Since the moment they had stepped away from Serena at the Met, Blair had been talking non-stop about how annoyed she was by Serena's act of defiance. She kept repeating how much she wasn't looking forward to the meeting later that night, that it was throwing her whole life out of whack.

"Don't you at least want to try and get some answers out of her? Get some closure at least before you dump her like Kati's last boyfriend did to her," Tori questioned, shooting a smirk Kati's way as they walked through the school.

"Hey, he didn't dump me. We had a mutual break-up," Kati argued, quieting down when being met with Blair's threatening gaze.

"Whether I want to find out where she was for the past year or not is irrelevant Tori. The fact of the matter is, when she left after the wedding last year, she forfeited her right to ordering anyone around," Blair insisted angrily, coming to a complete stop at the bottom of the school steps to address her friends, or minions in most cases.

"But maybe if we just gave her a chance to explain what happened, maybe you might be able to forgive her," Tori suggested hopefully. She knew there was one thing that Serena would never say out loud to excuse her disappearance, but she knew there was something else Serena had left because of. Tori was just as interested as she knew Blair was to find out the other reason that she couldn't stay in the city any longer.

"Like I said, I'm giving her an hour to talk before I'm walking out of there and never looking back. If she doesn't have anything good to say, then I don't have any plans to speak to her on even terms ever again. Now come on girls, all of this is way too much for my head to handle. I think I need ice-cream," Blair ordered, motioning for the three girls to follow after her.

"Actually Blair, I have somewhere I need to be," Tori called after her, making Blair stop in her tracks and spin around to face her friend.

"What could possibly be more important than hanging out with your friends after school?" Blair questioned, watching Tori quickly approach her.

"Father actually does want to see me for once today, and I promised I'd go visit him as soon as school was over for the day," Tori replied, walking beside Blair was the group slowly approached the sidewalk.

"But we were going to figure out our plan of attack for our meeting with… You know who," Blair moaned, her voice practically pleading for Tori to reconsider.

"Sorry B, but I never see my father, I don't really have a choice. Maybe I'll drop by your place later and we can at least go there together?" Tori suggested, sticking her hand out to hail a cab over, once pulling out of the street to rest in front of her almost instantly.

"Fine, but you're buying us our morning coffees tomorrow," Blair relented, hugging her friend before she stepped into the cab.

"Agreed," she smiled, closing the door behind her to slump into the seat.

"Where to miss?" the driver asked, looking back at Tori through the review mirror.

"The Ostroff Center, please."

 _Funny how T wants to find out S' secret so badly, when she is willing to lie to her friends to keep her own. Careful T, you of all people should know that the more secrets you keep, the harder they'll hit you once they are revealed._

* * *

 **Now why would Tori be going to the Ostroff Center? Only time will tell readers.**

 **Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, sorry about this one being shorter than the last one, but that seemed like the perfect spot to end the chapter.**

 **Better be ready for the next one, because I will be hard at work to get that out to just as quickly as the first one.**

 **Be sure to review, favorite and follow my story, it would mean a great deal to see this story really find it's footing.**

 **Have a great day guys ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3 - So We Meet Again

"So how are we today?" Tori glanced around the tiny office, trying to look anywhere but at the woman seated in front of her, hating that her father still believed she needed to be there.

"Fine," Tori replied nonchalantly, crossing her arms over her chest. It had been six months now since she had started visiting the Ostroff Center, six months since the incident that become the second most life changing experience of her teenage life. The day that Serena left New York for Connecticut, was the beginning of a downward spiral for Tori, something that only she and her father knew about. Not even Blair knew. Not even Chuck, her own brother, knew. They didn't even know what had transpired all those months ago.

"That is what you said last week Victoria and that was as far as we got. Are you sure you're not feeling anything else?" the therapist asked, gripping onto her pen in anticipation, waiting for the moment that Tori would finally let her in. That day wasn't going to be today.

"What other possible feeling could I have?" Tori questioned innocently, checking her phone, and seeing she still had another fifty minutes of this torture.

"I heard that your old friend, Serena van der Woodsen is back in town. From what I understand, it was her departure that start you on the path leading you here, to my office," the therapist pointed out, taking down notes, of what, Tori was not sure.

"Yes, she is back in town, and yes I have spoken to her. If you must know, we will be seeing each other tonight, so she can catch up with myself and Blair," Tori explained, typing a text absentmindedly to Blair.

"Are you sure that's all you want out of your meeting? You're not looking for an explanation?" the therapist enquired, managing to gain Tori's attention for a split second, before she went back to her phone.

"I don't need an explanation. She left, she came back, and it's as simple as that. I'm just ready for things to go back to normal," Tori smiled, meeting the therapist's eyes, hoping she'd believe her.

"But things can never really be normal can they? She's been gone for a year now, and yet, you're acting like she went away on a quick holiday, like nothing has changed," she observed, continuing to take notes down on her clipboard. Tori always wondered whether she was actually taking notes, or if she just did it to make her patients nervous.

"Nothing has changed. The only thing that is different now is that I can actually stand to be around Blair, compared to how it used to be. I used to be the outsider, but now Serena…" Tori trailed off, regretting answering at all.

"But now Serena is the outsider?" the therapist finished for her, watching her client intently.

"Okay yes, Serena is the outsider now, and I kind of think she deserves it, for putting me through what she did. Is that what you want to hear? That everything has changed since she's been gone. That, because she left, I couldn't control my wild side well enough to keep myself out of trouble, that every day I missed my best friend so much that I thought it would be a fun idea to swallow a whole bottle of pills, just so I could feel something, so I could have the chance to finally let myself go?! Is that what you were trying to get out of me?!" Tori shouted, shooting up from her chair so hard and fast that she knocked her chair to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

"Please calm down Victoria. Please sit down, take a deep breath, and we can continue having a civilized conversation," the therapist crooned, putting her pen and clipboard in her lap as a sign of surrender. After a few deep breaths, Tori pulled her chair back up into a standing position and sat back down, checking that her hair was okay before she said anything.

"From the day Serena left, everything changed. She was the one person in this world that I could trust with anything. I hate my father, because he's never around, and although Chuck is my brother and I love him, I trust him as far as I can throw him. I have other friends, I have plenty of friends, but…" she trailed off again, having trouble finishing her sentence, rather than not wanting to.

"But they were never Serena. It's understandable Victoria, everyone has that one friend that can never be replaced, it doesn't matter your age. So can you tell me now how you're really feeling about Serena's return? How it is affecting you?" the therapist asked, placing her pen and clipboard on her desk, giving Tori a feeling of relief as she gave her answer.

"Honestly? I don't know how to feel. On the one hand, I couldn't be happier that she has finally come back. But on the other hand, I was just getting used to the fact that she may never come back, I'd finally moved on. There's also the fact that there is more than one reason, more than what happened between us that night, that she left. I need an explanation. No, I want an explanation. I need to know how she could run away from her problems, when I had to stay behind and try to explain why she left so suddenly. By coming back, she's made the last year seem like it counts for nothing. What if I fall back into how I used to be because of her? What if I do what I did before, and end up having to add yet another lie to the long list that I tell my friends every day? I just don't know how I'm going to handle it," Tori finally admitted, accepting a tissue from her therapist, using it to dab away the tears starting to stain her cheeks.

"Maybe by going to see her tonight, you're searching out closure. By finally getting the explanation you've been waiting for over a year, you can finally move past this, move on with your life, and not let the past control our future," the therapist suggested, giving Tori a warm smile.

"I suppose that could work," Tori agreed, returning the smile. The pair continued to talk about Tori's week for the rest of the session, just seeming to pass the time, rather than delving any deeper into Tori's life, considering it seemed more progress had been made than in any of the other sessions that year.

"I hope you'll come in again next week, so you can tell me how your meeting with Serena went," the therapist said with a smile, shaking Tori's hand as she led her to the door.

"I'm looking forward to it," Tori smiled, stopping in the doorframe, a thought coming to your mind. "I know this may be a random thing to ask, considering how long I've been seeing you, but what is your name? I've only ever called you the therapist in my mind. I never really bothered to think about it until now."

"Dr Grayson, but you may call Samantha. Only outside of office hours of course," Dr. Grayson laughed, waving to Tori as she walked away down the hall. Tori walked away with a smile on her face, the first time she had felt somewhat elated after leaving her therapist's office. She continued down the hall and took a right, heading down to the open space just in front of the elevators. Instead of heading to the elevators to leave, she instead walked over to the nearby reception desk, smiling at the woman sitting at a computer behind it.

"Good afternoon Bernice, how are you today?" Tori asked, smiling down at the woman. Ever since Tori had started coming to Ostroff, she had seen Bernice almost every time she came, getting to know her every time she waited to go visit Dr. Grayson.

"I'm having a lovely day actually. My son proposed to his girlfriend and she accepted. They're getting married in July next year," Bernice replied happily, turning her attention away from the computer to look at Tori.

"He took his time to propose, that's for sure," Tori laughed, glancing over at the nearby door, wondering if she should go in or not.

"If you want to go in and say hi, you know you're welcome to. He's been so much happier since his sister came to visit him last night," Bernice told her, surprising Tori.

"Serena was here?" Tori questioned in disbelief, stepping away to move to the door.

"Why don't you go ask him and find out?" Tori stepped up to the door and gave a light knock, waiting for permission to enter before going inside, smiling at the youngest van der Woodsen upon entry.

"Tori, I wasn't expecting to see you today," Eric greeted happily walking over to give Tori a hug, which she returned.

"I actually came out of my therapy session on time today, and had some time to kill, so I thought I'd come in and say hey. When I heard you were in here, I knew I'd have to come see you sooner or later," she told him, following behind him to sit on the nearby chair while he sat on the bed.

"Are you sure you didn't just come here to ask about Serena?" Eric laughed, not seeming to care about the answer either way.

"I may have had an ulterior motive, but I am glad to see you Eric, I always enjoy talking to you, even long before you were ever in this place," Tori admitted, taking a hold of Eric's hand and giving it a squeeze.

"How did you find out I was in here?" Eric questioned curiously, pulling away to lean back on his hands.

"The joy of coming here every week, I have a few connections. Let's just say I could give Gossip Girl a run for her money with the amount of people I know," Tori winked, the pair laughing at her comment.

"So have you seen her yet?" he asked, once the laughter had died down.

"I have, twice now, and I will be seeing her again tonight with Blair actually. Hopefully I'll finally get out of her why she needed to leave, and why she chose now to come back," Tori replied, a sad smile touched her pink lips.

"Well, I can answer the second half of that. She came back for me, for the reason I'm even here at all," Eric admitted, pulling up the bandage on his arm, showing her fresh scars.

"Please don't tell me you did that to yourself," Tori whispered, as if saying it out loud would make the situation seem more real somehow.

"I'll tell you if you tell me why you need therapy," Eric offered with a smile, bringing a smile to Tori's own lips.

"Okay fine, don't tell me, it's your business. I just hope that you-" Tori began to say, before the door was thrown open, allowing entry to none other than Serena, leaving Tori in stunned shock as her friend rushed into the room.

"I've talked to your nurse, and I'm kidnapping you," Serena said, pulling open a drawer to rifle through Eric's clothes.

"Serena, there's someone else-" Eric began to say, being the next to be cut off by his sister.

"We're going to Bendall's, but it'll be just for an hour, I swear, I had a really bad-" Serena stopped in the middle of her sentence, finally realizing that Tori was also in the room.

"Hey Serena, long time no see," Tori joked nervously, standing up from the chair as Eric stood up from the bed.

"What are you doing here?" Serena asked, handing Eric a jacket before turning her attention back to Tori.

"I was just in the neighbourhood, thought I'd drop in and say hello to Eric. I'm assuming it's a secret that he's even here at all, so I promise I won't say anything," Tori swore, giving Serena a weak smile, exchanging a glance with Eric.

"Why don't you come with us then? Give us a chance to talk before tonight," Serena suggested, walking with Eric over to the door. Before Tori had a chance to answer, her phone buzzed in her bag, so she reached in a pulled it out, seeing a message from her father.

"I just don't think I'm ready to talk yet Serena. Let's just worry about our meeting tonight, and you go out and spend time with Eric. I know that's what you've been waiting to do ever since you got back," Tori smiled, walking past the pair over to the elevators.

"Tori, I promise that we'll get back to normal," Serena told her, standing behind her as they entered into the elevator.

"It's going to take more than a quick chat at the bar to get over a year of separation Serena," Tori told her, stepping into the elevator, shooting her a look to wait for the next elevator, her stare unwavering as the doors closed shut.

 _Looks like B isn't the only one with her claws out today. Watch out S, you know what they say about a rich girl scorned._

* * *

 **Another day, another chapter, looks like Tori just isn't ready to forgive Serena that easily.**

 **What do you guys think of Tori so far? I'd like an opinion on her and her back story so far ^_^**

 **Next up, is Tori's meeting with her father, Bart the Basshole himself, and then right after that, her meeting with Serena.**

 **Hope you're all as pumped as I am for this story to move along, I'm enjoying writing all of this so much.**

 **Be sure to leave a review, favorite and follow, it would be greatly appreciated ^_^**

 **Until next time :D**


	4. Chapter 4 - Meeting Me, Meeting You

Big and imposing. Those were two words that could describe both Bart Bass' company, and Bart Bass himself, two words that Tori used to describe her father, and what his business associates thought of him. You'd think that, being his daughter, she might've seen his softer side at some point in his life, that there was some part of him that was actually a good, caring person. If there was such a thing to Bart's name, no one knew of its existence, especially Tori, who he treated just like everything else. Like dirt. Tori knew that it was the same with Chuck, her father saving all of his anger, mistrust and disdain for his children, more than anyone else in his life it seems. She knew Chuck had his own theories as to why their father seemed to dislike them so much, but Tori liked to think that was just how he was, that he was afraid to let anyone in, even his own children, for fear of appearing weak. If that were the case, at least Tori had one thing to admire about her father, that he could keep a straight face, while using every expense to keep himself in a good light, while being horrible to anyone that wasn't in business with him. Tori stepped up to the double oak doors that led into her father's office and took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for whatever her father wanted to reprimand her for now. She placed her hand on the door handle and turned, pushing the door open a little and knocking on the door, peeking in to look in on her father.

"Come in Victoria," he said, his eyes never leaving his paperwork as he continued to write, not worrying about acknowledging his daughters presence. After closing the door behind her, Tori quickly walked over to her father's desk and sat down, patiently waiting for her father to talk. When he didn't say anything after a couple of minutes, Tori decided to take the plunge, and speak first.

"You wanted to see me father?" Tori asked, keeping her eyes trained on him, waiting to see what kind of a mood he was in. Having finally taken notice that his daughter was right in front of him, he placed his pen to the side and looked at his daughter, his gaze a hard but calm one, relieving Tori only a little.

"I've heard Serena van der Woodsen is back in town. Am I to assume she has already made contact with you?" he asked, placing his hands on his desk, clasping them together like an iron lock.

"Yes father, I have organized a meeting with her and Blair Waldorf at The Palace tonight, to work things out," she replied, finding it hard to meet her father's gaze.

"Do you really think that is wise, given your past history with her, and where that history put you?" he questioned, his eyes remaining somehow unblinking, Tori's relieving washing away as quickly as it had come.

"That's all it is father, history. History is something that's in the past, and that is what I plan to do tonight. My therapist agrees that speaking to her will give me some closure," Tori told him, her gaze falling away from his, being unable to continue looking him in the eye.

"So, you finally spoke to Dr. Grayson today. It only took you six months on wasted money that I could've been putting into this company," he observed, the anger only barely evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry if my health is putting any strain on your company father," Tori said through gritted teeth, being reminded just how much she could hate her father.

"How about we pretend you didn't say that, and move on with the conversation," her father said, sifting through his papers, allowing Tori a moment of relief before having to continue talking. "Now, I want to talk to you about Charles."

"Did he do something wrong?" Tori asked, glad that the focus was finally shifting from her to her brother.

"It's about what he has done in the past, and that he is on very thin ice. If he continues to stuff up, and not turn his life around, like you have attempted to, he is going to be in some very serious trouble," her father informed her.

"Do you mean you're thinking about disowning him?" Tori questioned, hoping that Chuck hadn't gone too far with his antics.

"No, nothing like that, not yet at least. If he continues to keep getting bad press on this 'Gossip Girl' website, which gets out to the newspapers, which are then sold to everyone in New York, I may have to take such drastic measures," he told her, standing from his seat to look out his window, gesturing for Tori to join him.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Tori asked, standing out of her seat and walking over to be beside her father, following his gaze to look out over the city.

"I can't control his actions every step of the way, no one can. That is why I need you to make sure he doesn't drag our family's name through the mud, or I may have to do to him, exactly what I did to you," he replied, looking down on his daughter.

"What I did was a little more wide scale than what Chuck does. It's just harmless partying, nothing too serious that can get him into trouble," Tori reassured him, watching the cars drive around the street below.

"That's the exact thing Chuck said to me about you, around this time last year, and look where you are now," he snapped, his previous calm disappearing in an instant.

"But father, I don't think-" she began to argue.

"No Victoria, no more excuse, I can't handle your excuses anymore. Keep an eye on Charles, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, and let's leave it at that. Is that understood?" he exclaimed, making Tori jump at his raised voice.

"Yes father," she answered in defeat as her phone started ringing in her bag, making Tori think how much she love the term 'saved by the bell' all of a sudden.

"You better answer that, we're done here," he said, sitting back at his desk and instantly going back to working, his daughter's presence vanishing from his mind once more. With a sigh, Tori stepped away from the window and hurried out of the office, closing the door behind her. She slumped against the frame and tried her best to fight back tears, reaching into her bag to see that it was Blair calling and picked up.

"About time you picked up," was the first thing Blair said when Tori answered the phone.

"Sorry, I was talking to father, would've picked up faster otherwise," Tori sniffled, wiping away the few stray tears that had managed to escape down her cheeks.

"I know that voice, that's your sad voice. What happened?" she asked, sounding genuinely worried about her friend, a very rare occasion.

"I don't want to talk about it over the phone," Tori replied, standing up from the ground and walking down the hall, to the elevators.

"Well then you had better hurry up and get here so we can eat some Ben and Jerry's while we get ready for this stupid meeting. Deal?" Tori had to give it to Blair, even though she was a soulless dictator that only care about herself, she still somehow always knew how to cheer her up, a quality that Tori had grown rather fond of over the past year.

"Deal."

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me." After leaving Bass Industries, Tori had instantly hailed a cab and went over to Blair who, true to her word, was waiting with an open closet and an open freezer full of ice cream. Tori was currently wolfing down cookies and cream while she told Blair a slightly altered version of her meeting with her father.

"Nope, those were his exact words," Tori told her, taking another spoonful of ice cream as she watched Blair rifle through her closet, taking yet another opportunity to look her best.

"And here I was thinking your Chuck was the only Basshole of the family," Blair smirked, getting a laugh out of Tori as she threw yet another dress back into her closet.

"Chuck isn't a 'Basshole', he's just misunderstood. I think," Tori laughed, putting down her ice cream to join Blair at the closet, looking through the closet that the two girls had practically been sharing for months now.

"Whatever you tell yourself to go to sleep at night. So, am I the only one not looking forward to seeing Serena in a more intimate setting, or do I get my partner in crime in my corner tonight?" Blair asked, slipping off the dress she was wearing to slip on a black one, looking at herself in the mirror.

"I'm sort of torn I guess. I mean, I'm glad she's back and all, but I would've been fine if she'd just stayed at boarding school. I've finally moved on from last year, and am happy with where I am," Tori admitted, slipping off her own clothes to pulling on a light blue skirt, which she paired with a powder white blouse, stepping over to stand beside Blair, admiring her clothing choice.

"I was thinking the exact same thing. What right does she have to leave like she did, and then just walk back into our lives like nothing has changed. Well, she's got another thing coming if she thinks she can just waltz right back into New York and go back to normal," Blair smirked, twirling a piece of her hair as she looked herself over.

"Agree. We'll just have to remind her who the top bitches are," Tori laughed, flattening out a small wrinkle in her skirt.

"And I must say, we are some good looking bitches," Blair smirked, laughing with Tori as they rushed back over to the closest to find some shoes. Once they had found some footwear, grabbed their jackets and found their purses, the pair left Blair's home arm in arm, ready to face off with their once shared best friend.

* * *

"Ready?" Tori and Blair stood in the doorway of The Palace's bar, looking over at Serena, who was patiently waiting for them to arrive, having not noticed their arrival yet.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Blair groaned, leading the way to the bar, with Tori not far behind her. When Serena finally saw them, a smile spread across her face, as she stood up to greet the girls, hugging each of them in turn as they order their drinks and walked over to a nearby table, so all three could face each other. They sat there for a few minutes, none of them saying a word as they awkwardly sat in silence, not sure what they should be saying or doing, until Serena found her words.

"So, how's your mom doing with the divorce and everything?" she asked Blair, the tension in the air fading away slightly as Blair faked a smile.

"Great," Blair lied, visibly having trouble keeping a straight face, so Tori jumped in to save her.

"Her dad left Eleanor for another guy," Tori informed Serena, whose face instantly changed to become apologetic.

"It's fine. She lost fifteen pounds and got an eyelift. It's been good for her," Blair told her, taking a sip of her drink, thanking Tori with her eyes.

"I'm really sorry," Serena apologized, reaching over to take Blair's hand.

"Yeah, I could tell, since you didn't call or write the entire time it was happening," Blair said, pulling her hand out of reach as she leant backwards in her chair.

"No, I know. It was just, boarding school and-" Serena began to apologize again.

"Why did you go to boarding school exactly?" Tori asked cutting her off, taking a long draught of her drink, before placing her empty glass on the table, motioning for another one from the bar.

"You don't even know how it felt for us to call your house when you didn't show up for school, and having your mom say 'Serena didn't tell you? That she moved to Connecticut?'" Blair continued for Tori, feeling more in sync with her friend than she had been any over night of the year.

"I just, I had to go. I needed to get away from everything. Can't you guys please just trust me?" She looked between Blair and Tori, pleading the both of them to listen to her, something that the pair were not sure they were prepared to do.

"How can we trust you if we feel like we don't even know you?" Blair questioned, taking a longer sip of her drink to calm her nerves.

"I can fix that. I saw you guys at school with Kati and Is, and I get it. I don't want to take any of that away from you-" Serena tried to explain.

"Because it's just yours to take if you want it," Blair interrupted, exchanging an annoyed look with Tori, who wasn't sure what she should be saying, knowing that this was more about them, then about her at the moment.

"That's not what I mean, I… I miss you. I miss both of you. I just want things to go back to the way they used to be. You know, walking to school together, just the three of us. Dancing on table in bungalow, something I know you enjoyed Tori. Those nights we spent at your mom's country house Blair. You're like my sisters. And you know, with all of our families the way they are, we need each other" she said hopefully, taking a hold of both Blair and Tori's hands and giving them a light squeeze. Blair looked over at Tori, who smiled at her giving her a slight nod, before she finally relented, a small laugh escaping her lips.

"Well, you missed some classic Eleanor Waldorf meltdowns, if it wasn't such a tragedy, it would've been funny, which it actually kind of was," she laughed, taking a hold of Tori's other hand, linking the three back together.

"And don't even get me started on Chuck's partying habits. You don't even want to know the kinds of women that have come through our building in the last week," Tori laughed, the three of them laughing together, like old times.

"I wish I could've been there, for both you. Just minus the women gathering," Serena smiled, relief washing over her.

"Well you are now," Blair said, returning her friend's smile.

"And you had better stick around this time," Tori agreed happily, glad that the meeting had gone better than expected, even if she hadn't really spoken much. The three sat in silence once more, only this time it was a comfortable silence, something that Tori was happy to have, especially after the day she had had.

"I have to meet Nate, I kind of have something special planned," Blair said breaking the silence, standing up from the table to say goodbye to her friends.

"Well I don't want to keep you, but um…" Serena trailed off, pulling her friend into a tight hug, one she didn't seem ready to let go of. "I love you B."

"I love you too S," Blair smiled, the first smile of the night that wasn't fake.

"What about you T, are you going to go as well?" Serena asked, stepping away from the table with Blair as she prepared to leave.

"I think I might stay. I don't have anywhere to be right now. Care for a drinking partner?" Tori asked with a smirk, getting a laugh out of Serena.

"Looks like you haven't changed," Serena smiled stepping over to the bar and sitting at one of the stools.

"She'll be with you in a moment. T, a word please," Blair said, whispering the last part as she dragged Tori away, stopping just outside the bar.

"That went better then I was expecting it to," Tori admitted, glancing back in on Serena as she ordered drinks from the bartender.

"It's going to take a while, but I'm sure we'll be able to work something out, with time. Now, don't drink too much, you know how you can get sometimes," Blair smiled, pulling her friend into a hug, waving as she walked away, and out of the building. With a small sigh, Tori stepped back into the bar, putting on her biggest smile as she approached Serena, sitting down beside her at the bar, ready to catch up with her best friend. The pair sat there for what seemed like hours, just catching up on what the other had missed while they were separated, nothing was left out of the conversation. An hour or so and a few drinks later, the pair had run out of things to talk about, the previously lost tension rising back into the air above their heads.

"You know, you never said how you felt about me leaving," Serena suddenly pointed out, draining the last of her drink and ordering another.

"I think I said enough the night you left. I didn't want you to leave, and yet you still ran away, to Connecticut of all places," Tori told her, stirring her drink with the olive floating around in the liquid.

"You know why I had to leave Tori, you're one of the only ones that understand. I'm surprised you didn't leave as well," Serena admitted, thanking the bartender when her fresh drink arrived.

"I had a life Serena, a life I wasn't ready to leave behind. One that you were obviously ready to throw away," Tori growled, downing the last of her drink in one gulp.

"And if I had stayed, my life would've been thrown away anyway, you know that. What happened that night was-" she began to say, until Tori cut her off.

"Don't you dare even mention it, don't think about it. I spent the last year trying to push that memory out of my mind. I've finally moved on from that, finally turned myself around," Tori snapped angrily, slamming her glass on the bar, luckily not hard enough to break it.

"But I thought-" Serena tried again.

"Well Serena you thought wrong. When you left, I lost it, I couldn't keep my head above water, I spiraled, harder than you did at thanksgiving. Ever since that night, I haven't been able to sleep, without having what happened play over and over in my head. I understand that you're probably the same, but you left me here alone, with no one to talk to about it, because I knew how much trouble we would be in if I said anything. So yes Serena, I stayed behind so that I could live the life I wanted to live, knowing that running away would only make my life worse than it already is," Tori shouted, gaining the attention of half the bar.

"Tori-" Serena started to say, trying to quiet her friend.

"No Serena, I have to go. I need to go home and just be alone," Tori said, standing up from the stool and collecting her bag, before stumbling away from the bar and out the door, making a beeline for the exit. However, she didn't make it very far, as she felt a sickening urge rising in her throat, forcing her to run to the bathroom to vent. Once she had stopped, she slumped on the ground and started to cry, her tears falling like waterfalls as she sobbed uncontrollably. She knew that it was the alcohol that had caused her outburst in the bar, but at the same time, it was what had been on her mind, ever since she had last seen her at Ostroff. No matter how hard she tried to forgive Serena, she finally realized that it was going to take a long time until she was going to be able to forgive Serena, until things could even come close to going back to normal again. Even though this was the case, she knew that she at least had to make the effort as well, just as much as Serena needed to make the effort to make things right as well. Deciding to go and find Serena, she got to her feet and exited her cubicle, her vision being only slightly blurry as she left the bathroom, walking back over to the bar to find her friend. Before she had a chance to enter, she accidentally bumped into someone, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Tori looked up at the guy she had knocked into and took the hand he offered, allowing him to pull her back to her feet.

"I'm fine, don't worry, it was an accident. I wasn't watching where I was going," she smiled, glancing over his shoulder to see Serena approaching the exit, both anger and sadness evident in her eyes.

"It was my fault as well, I should've been-" he began to say, before Tori stepped away to intercept her friend.

"Serena, are you okay?" she asked, trying to get her friends attention, just as she bumped into the very guy she had just bumped into only a few seconds ago.

"I'm so sorry, I'm not usually this clumsy," he apologized, bending down with Serena to help her get her things, his gaze landing on her for an uncomfortable amount of time. Serena didn't seem to take any notice as she snatched her things out of his hands and continued walking, with Tori not far behind.

"Sorry again," Tori called over her shoulder, rushing to keep up with Serena. Soon, she finally caught up to her and stopped her in her tracks, turned her around and grabbing her shoulders. "Serena, talk to me, what is going on?"

"I don't want to talk about it, just please let me leave," Serena sniffed, a few stray tears falling from her eyes as she tried pulling away from Tori.

"You are not going anywhere until you talk to me. Come on, I know I'm not impressed with you at the moment, but that doesn't change the fact that you are my friend. Not even distance and separation will ever change that," Tori smiled, giving her friend's shoulders a comforting squeeze. As those words left Tori's mouth, Serena seemed to break, collapsing in her friends arms as small sobs could barely be heard, as she cried into her friends shoulder.

"It was Chuck," she cried, hugging onto Tori tightly, as her face contorted into one of anger, rather than comfort.

"Whatever that psycho did, you can't let it get to you okay? I'm staying with you tonight, I'm not letting you sleep alone, after having close contact with my brother. I'll take care of you, don't worry," Tori crooned, leading Serena way to the elevators and pressing the button, waiting for one to come and bring them up.

"I'm so sorry, for everything," Serena sniffed, holding on close to Tori as the elevator dinged and a set of doors opened, allowing them to step inside.

"Don't worry about that now, we can talk in the morning. For now, let's just worry about getting you to bed, I think we've both had a long day."

 _And just when B and S had built a bridge, it all had to come crashing down. On the plus side, it looks like T, the ever present pillar of strength in S' life, has forgiven S for her past wrongs. Dry your eyes S, the Kiss on the Lips party is just around the corner, and you know who loves parties? Gossip Girl._

* * *

 **And here is another chapter. I was just so excited about this story, that I just couldn't stop writing.**

 **And** beckyjbennett, **sorry if I was too vague with what happened, but I partially explained in Tori's rant to her therapist. For those that didn't catch it, she downed a bottle of pills during her downward spiral, after Serena's departure. Hopefully it's a little more understandable after this chapter. I may also put more explanation in later on. Sorry if I confused anyone.**

 **What did you guys think of Bart? Did it sound his speech fit? I want to hear your opinion on him, see how I went.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed, please leave a review, favorite and follow, it would be greatly appreciated.**

 **Have a great day :D**


	5. Chapter 5 - Humphrey, Dan Humphrey

Sunlight crept through the crack in the curtain, forcing Tori's tired eyes open, a groan escaping her mouth, as she glared at the stupid sunlight that had interrupted her sleep. She quickly moved from the bed and pulled the curtains together, turning around to try and remember where she was. A small smile appeared on her face when she saw Serena was still asleep in her bed, lightly snoring away with her tangled together messily. As much as she hated to admit it, it was moments like this that she had missed the most when Serena was gone, the early morning wake ups. Whenever they would visit each other, they would always end up staying too late, and have to sleepover, so they didn't disturb their parents. It was moments like this that she missed, that she hadn't had for almost two years now, even if it was only a year before when Serena left. When they had started their partying together, they'd usually ended up in some hotel room they'd paid for in a drunken stupor. Even that was something she had missed. With a sigh, she shook Serena lightly on the shoulder, trying to wake her up, knowing it was time for them to have a real talk, not the drunken one they had had last night.

"Serena, wake up," Tori whispered, rolling her eyes when Serena tried swatting her hand away.

"Five more minutes mom, I just went to sleep," Serena groaned, rolling over to face away from Tori.

"Come S, don't make me do something drastic," Tori said, slightly louder this time.

"Let me sleep, please," Serena begged, still in some weird dream where she thought I was her mother.

"Don't say I didn't warn." Tori stepped up from the bed and moved over to the curtains and grabbed both sides, shoving them away from each other to let in blinding sunlight.

"Who opened the curtains?" Serena groaned, rolling back over in bed, shielding her eyes from the light.

"That would be me, the soon to be ex-ex-friend," Tori laughed, walking back over and jumping on the bed, getting a tired laugh out of Serena.

"And why am I awake so early in the morning?" Serena asked sleepily, stepping out of bed to pace over the bathroom.

"I thought we should have a talk, about last night, before we went out anywhere," Tori replied, stopping Serena in her tracks, freezing her to the spot.

"I really don't want to think about it, I have a big enough headache as it is," Serena said bluntly, staring at herself in the mirror, glancing at Tori as she walked over to join her.

"If it involves Chuck, then we need to talk about it. He's on seriously thin ice right now, any more slip ups and who knows what my father might do to him. As horrible as he can be some days, he's still my brother. I just need to know, did he force himself on you?" Tori questioned, placing a comforting hand on Serena's shoulder, her face dropping a little when Serena nodded her head.

"He was being nice, for once in his life. I should've known better. Even after a year, your brother is still a sleaze. I have no idea how you're related to him or your father," Serena sighed, turning around to give Tori a hug, which she gladly returned.

"Don't worry; some days I like to imagine what life would be like if I weren't a Bass. Then I realize that I'd probably be poor, so I decide to deal with it," Tori smirked, getting a more light-hearted laugh out of Serena.

"Sounds like Blair's been a bad influence on you," Serena smiled, turning her head back towards the bedroom in unison with Tori when a phone started to vibrate. They walked over to find the source of the vibrations, and discovered it was Tori's phone, which was getting a phone call from Blair.

"Morning B," Tori greeted after picking up the phone.

"Where are you right now?" Blair asked bluntly, not bothering to return Tori's greeting, worrying her a bit.

"I'm with Serena, we stayed up late talking so-" Tori began to explain, only to be cut off.

"Whatever, I don't care. Meet me at our usual restaurant, we need to talk," Blair said, hanging up without another word.

"That was weird, she sounded so serious. And she only sounds serious when she's mad," Tori said more to herself than Serena, who was sitting on the bed watching her.

"Well you should probably get going, we can always talk later," Serena smiled, walking over to her wardrobe to find clothes to wear for the day.

"And what will you be doing in the mean time? The Kiss on the Lips party is tonight, you should come, it will be heaps of fun, even if you're not technically invited," Tori offered, picking her shoes up from the ground and putting them on her feet.

"I don't think I'm up for a party right now. Maybe once I've settled back into life on the Upper East Side, then maybe I'll think about it. Until then, I think I should avoid anything where I might go a little crazy," Serena giggled, throwing a simple yellow shirt, dark pair of pants and a grey jacket.

"Fine, but when you do finally decide to grace the world with your presence again, we will be having at least one wild night," Tori told her with a smiled, handing over a pair of shoes for Serena to wear.

"Fine, one wild night, but that's it. One will be my quota for at least a month. Now I'm going to have a shower, meet you downstairs?" Serena asked, grabbing her clothes and carrying them to the bathroom.

"You've got twenty minutes, make them count." Tori stepped out of the room, collecting her bag as she went, and left the apartment, making her way down to the lobby. When she stepped out of the elevator, she heard a familiar voice coming from nearby, recognizing the boy from the night before, who had bumped into not only her, but Serena as well. What could he possibly want?

"…look, when Prince Charming found Cinderella's slipper, they didn't accuse him of having a foot fetish," she heard him say as she approached the front desk, smiling at his excuse.

"So does that make you Prince Charming?" Tori questioned playfully, smirking at the boy when he turned to face her, a look of relief washing over his face when he saw her.

"She can vouch for me, I bumped into her last night as well," Dan explained, turning back to face the hotel clerk.

"Is this true Miss Bass?" he asked, turning to address Tori, who had a smile on her face.

"I'm not sure, you'd think it'd be hard to forget someone who seems to be so clumsy," Tori replied thoughtfully, winking at Dan, enjoying watching him squirm. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Serena approaching, making her smiled wider, knowing the poor boy's torture would soon be over.

"Yes, I'm really clumsy, so clumsy that I bumped into you, and then bumped into Serena," Dan agreed with her, practically pleading the clerk to believe him.

"There's Miss van der Woodsen now. Serena? Do you know this young man?" the clerk called after Serena, getting her to walk over and stand beside a smirking Tori.

"She doesn't know me, nobody knows me, it's cool," Dan told the clerk, fear in his eyes as he shifted his gaze over to Serena, realization coming to her eyes when they made contact.

"From last night, right? I'm sorry about that," Serena apologized, nodding to the clerk that it was alright.

"You remember me?" he questioned in surprise, making Tori giggle.

"Who could forget a face like that," Tori smirked, smiling at Serena as the boy turned back triumphantly to face the clerk.

"See, they remember me," he smirked, his sudden confidence making Tori roll her eyes.

"Well he claims he found your cell phone," the clerk told Serena, handing said phone over to her.

"You found it," Serena smiled, taking the phone from the clerk. Before she had a chance to thank him properly, Lilly walked up to them holding a few bags and smiling at the two girls. "Hey mom."

"Guess what I got for you? A dress for Kiss on the Lips. I saw the invitation on the nightstand," Lily smiled, lifting up the bag to display to the girls.

"Oh, I'm not going to that," Serena told her, surprising her mother.

"What do you mean, Blair's throwing it," Lily insisted, exchanging a confused look with Tori, who only shrugged her shoulders in reply.

"Um, well you see, by the time I got the invitation, I actually already had plans" Serena told her, looking to Tori for help.

"Plans with whom? Tori?" Lily asked, turning to look at Tori, ready to interrogate the both of them.

"No, with her friend here," Tori jumped in, pointing to the boy, who had been trying to avoid confrontation throughout the whole conversation. Dan looked up from the ground and look around at the three woman looking at him expectantly, showing only slight fear at their imposing gazes.

"Uh, yeah hi, nice to meet you Mrs. Van der Woodsen. I'm Dan Humphrey," he introduced himself, awkwardly shaking Lily's hand.

"And what are you and Dan Humphrey doing?" she questioned, asking Serena this time, giving Tori a look to keep her quiet. She seemed at a loss for words as she exchanged a look with Dan, who looked just as stuck as she did.

"We're going to a concert tonight," he told Lily, displaying a poster that had been hiding in his bag.

"Lincoln Hawk?" Lily asked, a hint of interest showing in her eyes which only lasted for a second.

"Yeah, Rolling Stone named them one of the top ten forgotten bands of the nineties," Dan explained, smiling at her hopefully.

"Woo, I'm a huge fan," Serena smiled, nudging Tori in the side.

"Concerts are so much fun," Tori said through fake smile.

"Well this party would've been the perfect for you to announce your return, but I guess I'll just keep the dress for myself," Lily smiled, starting to walk away.

"Actually, if Serena doesn't mind, I might take that off your hands," Tori told her, snatching the bag out of her hand to have a look inside, smiling down at the dress lying in the bottom.

"Knock yourself out," Lily smiled, stepping away to head upstairs to her apartment.

"Thank you," Serena said to Dan, drawing Tori's attention away from the bag.

"Yeah no, I… it's not a problem really," Dan smiled, putting the poster back in his bag and walking away.

"Don't let him leave," Tori whispered, nudging Serena in the side and gesturing to the retreating Dan.

"So pick me up at eight?" she called after him, stopping Dan in his tracks.

"You'd really go out with some guy you don't know?" he asked with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Tori muttered, laughing when Serena slapped her playfully.

"Well he can't be worse than the guys I do know," Serena told her, looking at Dan the whole time. They watched as Dan walked away, laughing together as they saw him do a little happy dance before walking out the front door.

"Good luck with that little adventure, you're going to Brooklyn," Tori told her, shivering a little at the mention of the place.

"It'll be nice to go out with someone new for once. Now listen, after you visit Blair, could you do me a favor?" Serena asked, handing over a piece of paper to Tori, who had a quick read, a smile coming to her face.

"It shall be done. Have a great time; don't do anything I wouldn't do." After a quick hug, the two parted, Serena heading off to find some breakfast, while Tori walked away down the steps, off to meet Blair, to talk about the night before. She hoped.

* * *

 **Sorry guys, this is probably a really boring chapter, but I was sort of having mild writer's block on what to write, so it took me a while to find anything to say. Hopefully the next chapter will be a bit better.**

 **What did you guys think of the previous chapter? There wasn't much feedback, and just wanted a second opinion on what you guys thought of the exchange with Bart.**

 **Please be sure to review, favorite and follow, it would be greatly appreciated.**

 **Have a great day :)**

 **P.S. Tori and Nate may get a pairing, she may get paired with someone else, but we all know how long relationships last in this show ;)**


	6. Chapter 6 - Party Prep

"Can I help you miss?" Tori looked around the busy restaurant as she stepped inside, smiling at the maître d, not seeing Blair on their usual table.

"It should be under Waldorf," Tori replied, being pointed towards a table further into the building. Nodding her thanks, Tori made her way through the cluster of tables, smiling at Blair as she approached, feeling a little worried when she didn't smile back. She stood from her seat, like she usually would to hug her friend, only to slap Tori right across the face, drawing the eyes of nearby patrons.

"That's for sleeping with Nate," she snarled, glaring at Tori, who was staring at her in shock.

"How did you…" Tori trailed off, giving the people around them a look that told them to mind their own business.

"He told me last night. Serena, now her I can understand, she was a big party girl, just like you used to be. Then you changed into a somewhat passable friend but, just as we were becoming close, you turned around and stabbed me in the back. Just when I thought I was getting my best friend back, I lose two instead." She sat back down in her seat and sipped her drink, continuing to glare up at Tori.

"It was half a year ago Blair, it meant nothing. It was just one drunken kiss that never should've happened," Tori tried to explained, moving to sit down in the seat, only for Blair to pull it towards the table with her foot.

"Exactly, it never should've happened, and it's never going too happened again. You're going to stay away from him and from me, until I can decide a fit punishment for all three of you. For now, cutting you off socially will have to do," she told Tori, an evil grin touching her lips.

"Good luck trying to do that. They're my friends just as much as they are yours, and you won't be able to take them away that easily," Tori snapped, gripping her purse tightly as she turned to walk away.

"All it will take is one small text to Gossip Girl, and your reputation will be void," Blair called after her, making Tori stop in her tracks, turning around to face Blair.

"Then I guess I might as well tell you now that my kiss with Nate was the highlight of the night, the party was really boring, and your dress did nothing for your figure," Tori smirked, her smiled growing wider when Blair's own smile shifted into a snarl.

"How dare you-" she began to say, only for Tori to cut her off.

"Also, there was tongue, something that took you half of your dating year." And with that Tori turned on her heel and walked out of the building, the smile never leaving her face as she flagged down a taxi. Just as she was stepping into the car, she glanced briefly to her right and saw someone she was really hoping wouldn't show up.

"Tori?" Nate asked, walking towards her as she jumped into the cab.

"Can't talk, very busy," Tori replied, pulling the door closed, just as Nate reached her.

"But I need to-" he tried to say.

"But you need to what? Explain how the thing we both agreed would never reach Blair's ears, managed to reach her ears the very next day. There's nothing you can say that will make this any better, or worse, than it already is," she told him, refusing to look him in the eye.

"I couldn't keep lying to her, it just didn't feel right. I was going to tell you how I feel but-" he tried again, only for Tori to cut him off once more.

"There are no feelings Nate. I can only assume you are here to make amends with Blair, which is the complete opposite of Blair just did with me. So enjoy your lunch Blair Whordorf, I have a prior engagement," she snapped, tapping the window in front of her.

"Where to miss?" the cab driver asked, looking at her in the review mirror.

"712 5th Avenue, and step on it," she replied, glaring at Nate as the car pulled away.

"Wait, Tori…" Tori rolled the window up and slumped her head on the seat, doing her best to fight back tears, as she pulled her phone out of her bag, scrolling through her list of contacts, until she came to the name she was looking for, and pressed send. It took a few rings for the person she was calling to pick up, but when they did, a chipped voice answered.

"Tori? What's going on? Why are you calling? I haven't been uninvited have I? I've been getting stuff ready all weekend and-" Jenny babbled, words spilling out of the phone, making Tori smile.

"Calm down Jenny, you're still going to the party. I just wanted to call to make sure you're free for me to come over later. You are free right?" Tori asked, pulling out her compact to check her makeup.

"I was going to have an early dinner with my dad, but I can cancel, don't worry," Jenny replied happily, her excitement getting a laugh out of Tori.

"You don't have to cancel on my account, I'll just drop by quickly and see you at the party later," Tori reassured her just as the car came to a stop.

"It's no problem, I'm sure dad won't mind at all. You could always join us for dinner?" Jenny tried, sounding slightly hopeful.

"I don't know if I can. I have to meet up with the others and-" Tori told her, handing money over to the cab driver and stepping away, standing on the sidewalk.

"I understand its fine. I'll see you soon?" Tori smiled and started walking towards the store.

"See you soon Jenny." Tori hung up the phone and stepped into the store, ready to do her errand. After finding the item Serena had asked her to pick up, Tori found herself another cab and headed over to the Humphrey household, weighing her decisions over in her head. She knew she had to head home soon and get ready for the party, so that she would be prepared to head over to Blair's for the limo pickup, she wasn't ready to give up her night of fun. At the same time, if she was going down, then maybe it would help to keep a friend on the inside, someone to keep her in the loop. Either way, she knew she would have no choice but to manipulate someone, and there was only one option when it came to manipulation. She pulled out her phone in the cab and sent off a few texts, hoping that she was making the right decision going forward. Tonight, it would be time to face the music, one way or the other. Soon, she had arrived in Brooklyn, quickly hurrying inside to avoid some people on the street, who were giving her strange looks. She looked down at the piece of paper Serena gave her and climbed the stairs, regretting her decision to wear heels on her trek into the poor part of town. It took her a few minutes, but she finally reached the right floor and knocked on the door, glancing down and smiling at the bag in her hand as the door slid open, to reveal none other than Dan Humphrey.

"We have got to stop meeting like this," Tori smirked, looking over his shoulder to see a flash of blonde hair running towards the door.

"Why are you-" he began to greet her, only to be practically shoved out of the way by Jenny.

"Tori! Here you are, in my home, where none of my friends have ever been, hey," Jenny greeted, smiling apologetically to her Dan as he stepped away to the kitchen, flashing an awkward smile her way.

"And it is definitely something isn't it? It's very… rustic," Tori smiled, wondering why she had talked herself into doing this.

"Well, it's home sweet home. Nothing like where you live of course, that would be a dream come true…" Jenny trailed off, her smile faltering for a split second before focusing her attention on Tori again.

"It's every little girls dream to have fancy clothes and a luxurious apartment, but it isn't all that don't worry. Now, down to business." Tori lifted her bag up to Jenny and handed it over, waiting in anticipation for her reaction, smiling and covering her ears when she let out an excited squeal.

"This is the dress I was looking at today, I can't believe you bought this," she squeaked, holding the dress to her front, running over to look at herself in the mirror.

"And it's all yours to wear tonight to Kiss on the Lips," Tori informed her, sending Jenny into stunned silence, a look of regret covering her face.

"That won't be necessary, I kind of already have a dress for tonight, sorry" Jenny apologized, walking back over and putting the dress into its bag.

"What could be better than this one? Granted it didn't cost much for me, but Serena thought it would be nice for you to have something passable to wear tonight," Tori informed her, picking up the bag to hand it to her. Without a word she ran away to her bedroom and, after a few seconds, remerged with an almost exact copy of the dress that was sitting in the bag in Tori's hand.

"Where did you get that from?" Tori questioned, placing the bag down and walking over to examine the dress.

"Well, when I couldn't afford the dress that I liked, the one you bought me, so I made my own. That's not weird or anything is it?" Jenny asked back, fear in her eyes for what Tori's response might be.

"You did a really good job of making this; it can almost be passed off as the same dress. Except for maybe the hemline, but that can always be adjusted for my height later," Tori said aloud, pressing the dress to herself like Jenny had done previously.

"Your height?" Jenny asked, stepping up to stand beside Tori in front of the mirror.

"Yes, I plan to take this dress off your hands, so you can wear the real thing tonight. And I won't take no for an answer," Tori smiled, a smile that only broaden when she saw the hope in Jenny's eyes.

"You're joking right? This can't be real," Jenny said, staring at Tori like she had three heads.

"Nope, it's what's going to be happening. I'll expect readjustments to my size by Monday, I don't plan for it to just hang in the closet for the rest of the year," Tori told her, nearly falling over when Jenny practically jumped on top of her in a hug.

"Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you. This is amazing," she screamed, hugging Tori so tightly she was almost being choked.

"Choking, not breathing," Tori gasped, laughing a little when Jenny let go.

"Sorry, this is just so amazing. You're nothing like Blair at all," Jenny said, covering her mouth with her hands as the words tumbled out of her mouth.

"Don't worry, I agree, there's a reason Blair is the Queen Bee. Which is the same reason that we aren't talking at the moment," Tori told her, touching up her makeup in the mirror, when there was a knock on the door.

"What happened?" Jenny asked, glancing over at the door as Dan walked over to answer it.

"Doesn't matter, it's in the past now," Tori replied, turning around and walking over to the door as it swung open, revealing a man in a black suit and driver's cap, holding a very large bag that he dropped on the ground.

"What's this?" Dan questioned, poking the bag with his foot, like he was expecting it to jump up and attack him.

"Thank you, we'll be ready in an hour," Tori told the man, walking over to the bag and wheeling it over to the mirror, kneeling down and opening it to reveal a makeup bag and a red dress, neatly folded next to it, with a pair of silver heels resting on top.

"These are so pretty," Jenny gushed, bending down to admire the dress and shoes, backing away when Tori slapped her on the wrist.

"No touching the Jimmy Choos, these are worth more than your apartment. No offence," she told her, pulling out the bag and placing it up on the bench.

"What is all this for exactly?" Dan asked dumbly, looking between the two girls in confusion.

"This is Jenny's first real party, so why shouldn't she look her best. Come on J, time to accessorize." With that, Tori zipped the bag back up, grabbed it and the makeup bag, and pulled Jenny out of the room and into her room, ready to make her the star of the party tonight. Blair won't know what hit her. It took an hour of makeup and styling but, when she was finished, Tori was quite proud of how her creation turned out, and pretty proud of her look as well.

"Let's go out and show Dan," Jenny practically begged, dragging Tori out of the room back into the main living area, walking past Dan to stand in front of the mirror. When he saw the two girls, he looked stunned, diverting his eyes when they started to travel away from Tori's eyes.

"What do you think Humphrey? Good looking enough for you?" Tori smirked, fluffing her hair out a little as she looked at Dan through the mirror.

"I guess so," he replied, trying to sound nonchalant and failing.

"I can't believe you're going out with Serena, and I'm going to Kiss on the Lips with Victoria Bass. Who said this family wasn't cool?" Jenny said, making Tori laugh.

"Most of Constance and St Jude's. No offence," Tori told her, stepping away from the mirror to collect her bag.

"Ha ha, hilarious. Well, I don't want to be late, but good luck Jenny. And Tori, take care of my sister," Dan said, making eye contact with her.

"I'll treat her like the sister I wanted instead of Chuck," Tori smirked, glancing over at the door at the sound of it opening, revealing a man who was quite good looking.

"See you at the concert, right dad?" Dan said on his way past, making Tori's eyes go wide as she realized who she had just called good looking in her head. Looks like no eating for her tonight.

"And you are?" Mr. Humphrey asked, stepping up and sticking his hand out, which Tori took reluctantly.

"Victoria Bass, friend of Jenny and you're her dad," she quickly spilled out, hiding her face as she pulled out a compact, pretending to check her makeup as he looked over at Jenny, going silent.

"Oh my god. My daughter's a woman," Mr. Humphrey complimented, walking over to stand in behind his daughter.

"Dad, not in front of my friend, just tell me look nice instead of turning this into a sermon from the passage of time," Jenny groaned, throwing her own compact into her bag and snapping it shut.

"You look like your mother," he tried again, getting a small smile out of Tori as she turned around to face the pair.

"We had better get going, don't want to be late," Tori said, grabbing Jenny by the arm, practically dragging her to the door.

"You girls have fun," Mr. Humphrey called after them, waving to them as Tori opened the door.

"Bye Mr. Humphrey, I promise I'll keep her safe," Tori reassured him, pushing Jenny through the door.

"You can call me Rufus," he told her, just as the door closed.

"I've never called a parent by their first name before," Tori said aloud, walking beside Jenny to the stairs.

"That's because it's weird," Jenny told her, mounting the stairs first, leaving Tori at the landing.

"Say that to my last boyfriend."

 _Looks like it's time to party Upper East Siders, and this one will be a night to remember. And for those of you that weren't lucky enough to score an invite, I hope you weren't expecting a Kiss on the Lips, because this girl won't be giving you one._

* * *

 **Sorry this took so long to be submitted, Uni has been hectic for the past couple of weeks, and I just couldn't find any time to do anything.**

 **Don't worry though, I have about five weeks of holidays coming up, so hopefully I will have a lot more time to do some writing, so we can see where this story takes us.**

 **On to the chapter, looks like Blair and Tori are on the outs now, Blair really doesn't have any luck with Nate does she? You'd think he wouldn't learnt his lesson the first time.**

 **What do you guys think of Tori and Jenny as friends, definitely has the potential to be something great. Maybe even powerful. You'll just have to wait and see.**

 **This next chapter should be the final chapter for the episode, so in the next chapter, I may reveal some of my plans for the future, so you can see where I plan to take this story.**

 **Tell me what you think in the reviews, I would be so grateful to hear anything you have to say, you guys are my muses.**

 **Have a great day ^_^**


	7. Chapter 7 - Kiss on the Lips

In a city like New York, the city that never sleeps, Tori had always come to expect that every building as far as the eye could see to be lit up like the fourth of July, as brightly as a Christmas tree, lighting up children's hearts for the holiday season to come. This fact was never truer than this night for Tori, the night of the Kiss on the Lips party, especially when she saw the club the party was taking place in. Sure, she'd been there to help with the preparations for the party, but seeing all the sparkling lights, hearing the booming music escaping every time the front door opened, just gave her chills, just like every other party she'd been to. Tori glanced over at Jenny, who was practically jumping up and down in her seat, excitement spilling out of her.

"You ready for this?" Tori asked, as the car slowly came closer and closer to the front door.

"I want to say yes, but I really mean no, so I could be both. Do I need to give an answer?" she questioned, words falling out of her mouth almost too quickly for Tori to understand.

"Try to breathe Jenny, if you keep hyperventilating like that, you won't have much to be excited about," Tori laughed, looking out the window as the car came to a stop, the chauffer quickly jumping out of the car to open the door for them.

"This is my first time to a party like this; the biggest party I've been to was my five year old cousin's birthday. I had my face painted like a lion. It wasn't pretty," Jenny admitted, jumping when the door opened, letting in the loud beat of the music into, stronger than ever.

"Just keep calm, stick close and enjoy the music. This is but the first of many parties in your future Little J, I can feel it," Tori smiled, moved to the door to get out.

"Little J?" Jenny asked, moving along behind her.

"Thought it sounded like a good nickname," Tori smirked, stepping out of the car and onto the sidewalk, smiling out at all the other guests milling about, waiting to get inside. The chauffer helped her fully out of the car and then helped Jenny, the pair standing side by side, when Tori noticed another car arrive nearby. Nate stepped out of the car and helped Blair out behind him, the pair smiling like a happily married couple, without a care in the world.

"Come on, let's go inside," Jenny suggested, leading the way to the party, sounding a little more confident then she had only minutes ago.

"Add a little more sway to your hips, and a bit more attitude to your voice, and I could've sworn you sounded like Blair," Tori laughed, hooking arms with Jenny as they walked forward, turning her head to make eye contact with Blair, a smirk crossing her face when she saw the shock on Blair's own face. They pushed past all the other partygoers with conviction in their step and pushed open the double doors, being instantly hit by the bass of the music. They took slow steps into the club, taking in just how magnificent everything looked, how great the night was going to be. All they could do was watch as teens danced in large groups, grinded against their partners and enjoyed themselves immensely, having the night of their lives, one they would never easily forget. With a quick nudge to Jenny's side, she lead the way to the dance floor, only turning around to notice Jenny hadn't followed her yet.

"Are you coming or not?" Tori questioned, making her way back over to the girl, grabbing her arm to pull her along, only for Jenny to resist.

"I think I might get myself a drink first to, you know, calm my nerves and stuff," Jenny replied, stepping away to the nearby drink table, not looking over her shoulder as she retreated away.

"Just be sure to pour your own drink, who knows what's getting passed around in here," Tori shouted after her, losing sight of Jenny as she disappeared into the crowd.

"If anything is getting passed around by anyone it'd have to from you." Tori groaned at the sound of Blair's annoying voice, spinning around to face her old friend, smirking at her as they made eye contact once more, barely even noticing Nate standing nearby.

"I'd have to not be a virgin for that to be true Blair but, I guess you know all about being a virgin, since lover boy here isn't giving you any," Tori smirked, winking at Nate as she moved to step away, only for Blair to grab her arm and pull her back.

"At least I have a boyfriend and don't need to steal one from other people just to get some sort of pleasure," Blair snapped, not even trying to hide her rage anymore.

"Well from what I hear, Serena didn't exactly steal him away because, if she really did steal him, then why did it take him so long to tell you? My guess is that he loved it so much, that he was hoping beyond hope that Serena would come back; just so then he could get himself another taste. Does that sound about-?" Before Tori could finish her sentence, Blair slapped Tori across the face, in the same spot she had slapped earlier that day. Tori had to give it to her, she sure loved her consistency.

"There is nothing you can say to me that will ruin this night, do you understand me? I have worked it out with Nate, we are still a happy couple and you're just a sad little girl with no real friends. You know, it's funny how you like to say all the time that you are nothing like your brother, that you two have nothing in common. Well guess what, you're just as conniving as he is, if not more So yes, enjoy the party, dance the night away, gossip to your heart's content. Just remember, once the night is over and reality kicks back in, you won't have very much left to get by on, you'll be back to where you started, the little unknown twin sister of Chuck Bass." And with a fake smile and a wave, Blair was gone, with Nate not far behind, his face full of emotion, both anger and sadness, as he followed, like her obedient lap dog, something Tori knew was above him. Realizing just how bad that argument was, Tori turned away from the dance floor and walked away to one of the nearby tables, which had Chuck and Blair's two lackeys waiting, none of them taking any notice of her until she was standing beside them.

"Having fun yet sis?" Chuck smirked, taking a sip of his drink as he scanned the area, no doubt looking for a new girl for him to prey on.

"If by fun you mean get slam dunked by Blair in the middle of dozens of people, then yeah, I'm having the greatest time of my life," Tori groaned, snatching the drink out of Chuck's hand and downing it in one gulp.

"Since when do you make sport references?" Chuck chuckled, stealing Isabel's drink when she wasn't looking, also downing that drink in one gulp.

"Since Blair bounced me like a ball and then slammed me to the ground. Plus, you have an unhealthy obsession with basketball," Tori replied bluntly, placing her hands on the table to rest her head on top.

"I'm not obsessed. I have an appreciation for the sport, that's all," Chuck informed her, his gaze stopping as his eyes fell on what Tori knew was going to be his newest conquest of the night.

"So, who have you spied tonight? Another blonde?" she asked half-heartedly, trying to follow his gaze through the crowd of people to spot who he was looking at.

"Who's she?" Chuck asked, nodding his head towards who he had spotted, helping Tori to find her, only for her face to fall at who it was.

"First of all, that's Jenny Humphrey, and second of all, forget it, she's too young, even for you," Tori told him in annoyance, trying to block Chuck's view of Jenny, only for him to try talking to Kati and Isabel.

"She's a freshman," Kati told him, sounding bored as she looked around at all the other party goers.

"I love freshmen, they're so…" Chuck trailed off, trying to find the right word, which Tori was sure would make her sick.

"Fresh?" Isabel smirked; taking a sip from her drink, only to realize there was none left.

"Chuck, I swear to god, you had better leave her-" Tori tried to say, only for Chuck to put a hand in her face, shutting her up.

"Anything about her on Gossip Girl?" Chuck asked, his focus having left Tori for Jenny.

"No," Isabel replied, picking up her phone to start looking through different posts, coming up with nothing.

"Until you're done with her," Kati smirked, getting a hit to the arm from Tori.

"Chuck, please just find someone else to harass, she's not worth your time," Tori said, standing up to follow him over to Jenny, trying to beat him to her before he could reach the young girl.

"Hi, I'm Chuck," he introduced himself, shaking Jenny's hand innocently while Tori stood between him, staring him down as he avoided her eyes.

"I know, I mean hi, I'm Jenny," Jenny smiled, returning the handshake, her eyes lighting up when she looked over at Tori, who returned her smile with a weak one.

"It's nice to meet you," Chuck smiled, putting on the winning grin that had won over so many hearts since he was fourteen.

"Chuck, sidebar, now," Tori growled lowly, gripping Chuck's arm tightly to drag him away, a flash of pain crossing his face as her hand gripped tighter.

"How is your grip so much like a vice," Chuck groaned in annoyance, rubbing his arm soothingly when Tori finally let go.

"You listen, and you listen well. This girl is not going to be another one of your conquests; she is not going to be someone you can use and abuse, so you can throw her to the wayside when you're done with her. Do you understand?" Chuck rolled his eyes at his sister and let his gaze fall back onto Jenny, who smiled at them when the two twins looked her way.

"I can't even have a taste?" he whined, sounding like a child that wasn't getting his way.

"Conversation is as far as you can go with her. You've seen me angry before Chuck. You know it almost rivals our fathers. Promise that you will leave her alone," she snapped, grabbing his shoulders so that he would face her. He stare into her eyes for a few seconds, trying to convince her to let him do his thing but, when she refused to relent, he let out a sigh and nodded, pulling away from his sister.

"Fine, I won't make any advances, no matter how badly she begs me. Scout's honor," Chuck promised, placing to fingers to his forehead in mock salute, smirking as he turned around and walked back over to Jenny, starting up a conversation with her.

"He is going to be the death of me," Tori groaned, rubbing her forehead in frustration.

"You and me both." Tori quickly span around to look at who was behind her and came face to face with Nate, a cross between a smile and a frown on his face, something only Nate Archibald could pull off.

"And here I was thinking Blair would've told you to stay away from me, since she did the same to me. Is she finally letting you off the leash?" Tori asked sarcastically, turning away to go stand with Chuck and Jenny, not wanting them to be alone together.

"Can we please just talk, you owe me at least that," Nate told her grabbing her arm to stop her going anywhere.

"I actually have things to do Nate, so if you wouldn't mind letting me go, I'll pretend I never saw you, for both our sakes," Tori snapped, trying unsuccessfully to pull away from Nate's strong grip.

"I just want to clear the air between us, before the situation between you and Blair escalates beyond repair," Nate insisted, holding her gaze, Tori allowing herself to be drawn in by his puppy dog eyes, something she really needed to learn to resist. She looked over her shoulder at Chuck and Jenny, the pair still talking, showing no signs of going anywhere soon.

"Fine. You have three minutes, then I am going to go back to enjoy this party, which is so much fun," Tori fake smiled, which instantly became a frown, following behind Nate, the pair looking for a quieter place to talk, while Tori continued looking over her shoulder, trying to keep Chuck and Jenny in her sights for as long as she could, before they rounded a corner, and they lost sight of them. It wasn't long before they found a quite place to talk, the pair standing in an awkward silence, before Nate took the plunge, taking a deep breath before he spoke.

"I'm sorry about telling Blair, I really am. I know you told me not to do it, and now you're really made at me, but I just couldn't lie to her anymore. You know me, I'm really bad at keeping secrets from my lived ones, I just feel bad about it when I do, especially when I seem to be a repeat offended of the same lie," Nate started, waiting for permission to continue.

"Anything else?" Tori asked, giving him a slight nod, trying to control her facial expression as much as she could.

"I just wanted the lies to be over, I wanted to get out of my relationship with her. Yes, I love her, and I think I'll always love her, but at the time, with the pressure of Serena returning, and the memory of what happened between us, I couldn't stay with her, feeling how I feel. Feeling how I feel about you," Nate continued, taking Tori by surprise, her face showing so for a split second before she became neutral again.

"It was one drunken kiss Nate, it's not like we're in the sixties all of a sudden and I'm asking you to go steady," Tori told him sarcastically, crossing her arms over chest, trying to figure out where he was going with all this.

"I know that, I really do. It's just that, ever since it happened and, even before then, there was still something there, and as time went by, I felt myself falling out of love with Blair, and falling in love with-" Nate began to explain, only for Tori to cut him off mid-sentence.

"Hold it right there Archibald. It took you this long to tell me anything, it took Serena coming back from her boarding school trip, for you to admit your true thoughts about who you'd rather be with? I passed it off as a onetime thing, nothing that would ever happen again as I live and breathe because one, you're Blair's boyfriend, and two, you're Chuck's best friend, making matters all the more worse," Tori said angrily, feeling her phone buzz in her purse. As she reached in to pull it out, Nate stole it from her, keeping it out of her reach, wanting to hold her attention.

"I know I have the worst timing ever, it's one of my many character traits, but it's better now than never isn't it?" he questioned, locking his gaze with her, both of them forgetting about the buzzing phone in Nate's hand, until Tori finally relented.

"If you're really doing this right now, if you really had to tell her so you could be free, then how are you two still dating, or was that just a trick of the light?" Tori inquired, leaning back against the wall, while Nate did the same next to her.

"My father has a deal going with her mom, something that he really needs, a deal that can only stay afloat if I continue to date Blair. My family will always come first Tori, no matter how much I want to follow my heart," Nate admitted, his sad puppy dog eyes returning as the words left his lips.

"I guess it's good that you're going with your family this time around anyway. The last two times you followed your heart; you cheated on your girlfriend with not one, but both of her best friends, although to what extent with Serena, I'm still not sure of yet. So if all you came looking for was for me to accept your apology, then yes, I accept it, you're forgiven, and all that. Enjoy you're perfectly real relationship with Blair. I'll be going now." Tori snatched her phone out of Nate's hand and walked away noticing that Nate wasn't bothering to follow her, probably knowing that he had said all he could say, and that was all she would say to him. The rest of the school year was definitely not going to be a fun one. When Tori had finally made it far enough away from Nate, who walked out a minute or so after she did, heading towards Blair, Tori checked her phone, shock consuming her face when she read scared texts from Jenny.

 _Can you come find me? Chuck's making me uncomfortable_

 _Where are you? I'm trying to get away from Chuck, but he won't take no for an answer_

 _Please check your Tori; I'm starting to freak out a little_

Just as she finished reading the texts, Tori looked up from her phone and searched around frantically for Jenny and Chuck, finding neither of them in sight, as she started pushing her way through the crowd. No matter how loudly she tried called out Jenny's name, the music was far too loud for anyone to hear, only succeeding in annoying the people that she was shouting near. Tori knew she never should've even let Chuck talk to Jenny but, being the trusting person that can be on occasion, she had been stupid enough to leave him alone with a freshman, which just so happened to be one of his specialties. Just when she was starting to go from frantic to scared, Tori started to hear people whispering someone's name, whispering Serena's name, which could only mean she had showed up. She quickly looked around, trying to find any sign of her friend, noticing her standing nearby, amongst the many people dancing around.

"Serena!" Tori shouted, quickly running over to her friend, seeing similar movements out of the corner of her eye as she raced towards her friend.

"Tori? What are you-" Serena began to say, getting cut off by Tori grasping her shoulders frantically.

"We don't have any time, Jenny's missing, and Chuck, he-" Tori began to explain, until Serena took her turn for an interruption.

"And Chuck is with her, I know. Dan got a text from her asking for help," Serena said, grasping Tori's shoulders to calm her down. Before either could continue, Nate walk past the both of them, avoiding eye contact as he walked away, disappearing amongst dozens of couples moving around the dance floor. Serena and Tori moved their gaze from Nate to Blair, the pair staring Blair down until she turned away, taking Kati and Isabel with her, a look of disgust on her face as she left.

"Come on, let's go find Dan." Serena grabbed Tori's arm and pulled her away, leading her through the people, trying to stay as close together as they possibly could, looking for Dan, wherever he was. It didn't take them long to find him standing y the drink table, searching the crowd frantically for his sister.

"Hey any luck?" Serena asked worriedly, letting go of Tori's arm.

"No I haven't seen her anywhere," Dan replied, barely even taking notice of Tori as she dipped her head down in guilt.

"Come on, let's try upstairs," Serena suggest, leading Dan and Tori towards a nearby set of stairs, the latter falling in step with the former, finally getting the courage to say what happened.

"I'm sorry Dan, this is all my fault, I never should've left her alone with Chuck. I was keeping sight of her, but I looked away for a few minutes, and they were gone, I'm so sorry," Tori apologized, running up the stairs behind, him, taking each step two at a time.

"It's fine, as long as she's okay, he's the one to blame, you didn't force him on her," Dan reassured her, looking up to Serena just above them. "There isn't going to be anybody up here, this is pointless."

"Guys, it's Chuck's scarf," Serena called back to them, motioning to the checkered scarf lying on the ground in front of a mirror, dread filling Tori to the brim.

"Oh god," Dan said, pushing past Serena to continue up the stairs, the two girls not far behind her.

"If Dan doesn't kill Chuck, I'm going to finish the job for him," Tori growled, her dread disappearing and turning into anger. The trio ran up to the top and threw open the doors, only to see Chuck nearby with Jenny, holding her against the skylight, forcing himself on her, something that only made Dan angrier than he already was.

"Hey, Jenny" Dan shouted, running over to his sister, who gave one big push and pulled away from Chuck, he stumbled back towards the skylight.

"Stay away from her Chuck," Tori snapped, running up to stand beside Dan to check on Jenny, who moved into Tori's arms, holding onto her tightly, as Tori glared at Chuck over her shoulder.

"You son of a-" Dan began to say, moving towards Chuck threateningly, pushing him backwards, which Chuck did right back to him.

"What the hell is your problem? It's a party, things happen. Who are you anyway?" Chuck snarled, stepping towards Dan angrily.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm in your class, my name is Dan Humphrey, that's my little sister " Dan shouted angrily, punching Chuck in the face, sending him careening into the skylight once more, only this time he made no attempt to come back. Tori passed Jenny to Serena, who wrapped her coat around the scared girl, while Tori walked over to the two boys, ready to break them up.

"Go Dan, take Jenny out of here, I'll meet you guys downstairs," Tori told him soothingly, pushing him over to Serena and Jenny, the trio walking away to the exit, leaving Tori and Chuck alone on the roof, the pair staring each other down.

"What's that look for? You heard what I said, it's a party things happen. She was practically begging for it," Chuck smirked, only getting a slap from his sister for his words.

"You're going to stay the hell away from her from now on, do you understand? I thought that this one time Chuck, just this one time, I could actually trust you, that you could actually try to control yourself, just because I asked you to. Yet, her we are, on the roof, the place that you forced yourself onto a fourteen year old girl, and got a bloody nose for your efforts. I'm done protecting you," Tori told him, sounding defeated, turning away to leave, ready to go find the others.

"What do you mean protecting me? I don't need protection from anybody, I'm-" Chuck began to argue, going silent when he saw Tori's death glare, knowing he needed to shut up whenever he saw that face.

"You're on top of the world right? Well right now Chuck, you're so far below the Earth, that even the Earth's core couldn't thaw your cold heart. The reason I knew I had to say something Chuck, is because you're on thin ice with father," Tori explained, taking a few steps back towards her brother, waiting for his reaction.

"Why would I be on thin ice with father?"Chuck questioned, holding his hand to his nose, blood pouring out quicker than Tori had ever seen out of anyone's bloody nose.

"Because of all the stupid stunts you keep pulling. Because of all the girls you bring home, because of all the drinking and the smoking, all while putting yourself in the public eye while doing those things. It was only yesterday that I was trying to defend you against father, trying to convince him that you weren't all that bad. But here I am, yet again, cleaning up another of your messes which, by the way, will be the last time I help you," Tori told him, turning around again to walk to the door, reaching out for the handle this time before Chuck could say anything.

"Are you going to tell him what happened tonight?" he asked, worry evident in his voice, hearing his feet on the gravel as he slowly paced towards her.

"I may hate you a lot right now, but I would never do that, no matter how bad the situation. But I won't stop him from finding out, and I won't vouch for you this time. From this point onwards, you're on your own." And with that, Tori opened the door and stepped through, leaving her brother alone on the roof, while she walked back downstairs to the waiting trio, Serena seeming to be the most worried.

"Is everything-" she started to ask, stopping mid sentence when Tori looked right past her.

"Let's just get Jenny home," Tori said, looping her arm with Jenny's, who rested her head on Tori's shoulder, as they walked away, ignoring all the stares of the people around them, as they walked straight ahead. Before long, they had made it outside and hailed down a cab, Tori helping Jenny into the car as Dan and Serena looked at each other, ready to talk about where to go next.

"So, do you think I have a shot at a second date?" Dan asked, managing to make Tori laugh for the first time the whole night.

"Well I don't think you can top this one," Serena chuckled, exchanging an amused look with Tori.

"That's an understatement," Tori mumbled,, smiling sweetly at Dan, when he rolled his eyes at her.

"Well I did punch someone," Dan said, looking at Tori apologetically, who just waved it off.

"True. We'll talk about it in the cab," Serena smiled, stepping into the backseat of the cab to sit beside Jenny with Dan not far behind, leaving Tori alone on the sidewalk.

"I guess I'll take shotgun." Tori ran around to the other side of the car and opened the door, looking up to see Nate standing against a wall nearby, downing the beer in his hand. The pair made eye contact, sadness in both of their eyes, before Tori sat down in her seat, closing the door behind her, shutting out all of the night's problems, until she could figure out how she was going to deal with them. It was definitely going to be a long year.

 _Spotted, Serena and Tori making a heroic exit from B's party. Too bad for them, there's school on Monday. So until next time, you know you love me. Gossip Girl._

* * *

 **So here is the next chapter for you guys.**

 **Sorry that I've been away for so long, I lacked motivation to do any writing during my free time, and just ended up binge watching television shows and hanging out with friends, so sorry again for how long I've had to make you guys wait.**

 **Hopefully this extra long chapter will make up for the long wait, I know I loved writing it.**

 **Please be sure to tell me your thoughts and questions in the reviews, and I'll be sure to answer them at the start of every new chapter as they come. I'm not sure how quickly chapters will come, but I will be writing them, among Uni work and rehearsals for a musical I'm doing.**

 **Can't wait to hear your thoughts, see ya :)**


	8. Chapter 8 - The Wild Brunch

_I bet you're wondering what Gossip Girl is doing up so early. Truth is, I never went to bed. Why waste precious time dreaming, when waking life is so much better. Is there really anything better than a lazy Sunday, reading the paper in bed, sipping coffee, scrambling an egg or two. Yeah right. We Upper East Siders don't do lazy. Breakfast is brunch, and it comes with champagne, a dress code, and a hundred of our closest friends. And enemies. Chuck and Tori's dad, Bart Bass, is hosting the annual brunch for his foundation, everyone is invited. Well, not everyone._

"And then he did this awkward little wave, which was oddly endearing. But obviously Serena here doesn't agree." It was the morning after the Kiss on the Lips party, a night that Tori knew she would be remembering for many years to come, that's for sure. It had started out nicely, she had made Jenny's dreams of feeling popular come true, if for only a few minutes, only for Chuck to swoop in, as usual, and ruin it all. As much as Tori wanted to hate him for what he had done, to someone that had the potential to be a close friend one day, she could never hate Chuck. No matter how much evil he has done in his life, he still somehow always managed to come through for her as a brother, especially at her weakest moments. One thing that Tori knew for sure though, if Chuck weren't her flesh and blood, he would probably be missing by now, having mysteriously vanished from his bed during the night. Her father would probably pass it off as him going off on some drunken stupor, something that Chuck was very prone to doing.

"How could you find something so awkward anything other than awkward?" Serena questioned, pacing around in front of the bed where Tori was sitting, while Eric was sitting in a chair nearby, the trio sitting in his room in the Ostroff Centre. After the night before, what Serena had entitled a 'fiasco', she had wanted to talk to someone, other than Tori, about how bad her date was. And because they care about his well being, but mostly the date part.

"So he waved? I wouldn't have taken him for a waver," Eric smirked, making Tori chuckle.

"Maybe he was just trying to be funny." Serena suggested, continuing to pace around the room, showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. She seriously needed to take a chill pill ASAP.

"Maybe he's shy," Eric tried, looking to Tori for help, seeming lost.

"He's definitely shy," Tori confirmed, nodding her head in agreement, winking at him.

"Or he hated me," Serena said, looking away from the two.

"No guy in the history of the world has ever hated you," Eric pointed out, while Tori stood up, walking over to grab Serena to stop her pacing.

"And I'm sure there are a few girls that would think the same," Tori laughed, getting a laugh out of Serena too, as she hugged her friend, pulling away to walk over to Eric's bed.

"Whatever, it's probably for the best. The last thing I need in my life is a new guy. He was just so smart though, and funny," Serena admitted with a smile, sitting down beside her brother.

"And endearing," Tori added in, sitting down on Serena's other side, laughing when Serena rolled her eyes playfully.

"It sounds like you like him," Eric told her matter-of-factly, looking at his sister seriously.

"And really nice. But god, Blair was so mean to me last night, I don't even know why. Whatever, I'm sure if we talk about it, we can work it out," Serena said, slumping down in her chair. "Hey maybe I should go over there."

"I really don't think that would be such a good idea," Tori said quickly, getting weird looks from the van der Woodsen siblings.

"And why shouldn't I?" Serena questioned accusingly, holding Tori's gaze.

"Because she's mad at both of us and, since I want to go as well and have been here for the past year while you've been away, it would be better for me to go, I think," Tori told them, hoping her excuse was acceptable.

"I suppose you're right. You'll tell me how it goes won't you?" Serena asked, standing up to see Tori to the door.

"I think I might head home first, see if the boys survived last night, then I'll see Blair. If I come out of there alive, I'll be sure to send you a text. Bye Eric, I'll visit again soon," Tori called over her shoulder, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her, slumping against the hardwood. So to summarize everything that was happening in her life that had happened in just one day, Blair hates Tori for making out with her boyfriend once, and she was about to go and apologize for something that happened months ago. She was about to go face Chuck, the brother that she was having a hard time trusting, and Nate, the guy that had confessed his love for her, but then turned around and said he was stuck with another girl. In short, her life was far from perfect, something she was started to get a little too used to.

"Is something wrong Victoria?" Bernice asked from her desk nearby, looking at the teen worriedly.

"You have no idea Bernice. You have no idea."

* * *

With a deep breath, Tori took the long walk down the hall to her room, stopping at Chuck's door first, knowing that he and Nate wouldn't be awake yet, especially with how Nate looked before she left. She stared at his door, working up the courage to enter the room, wondering whether she would rather go in there, or go into her father's office again. She knocked on the door and, when no one answered, she turned the handle and pushed the door open, feeling unsurprised that they had forgotten to lock the door once again. She stepped into the room and instantly saw Nate, still asleep on the couch, practically dead to the world, with a table covered in so much crap; you would never guess there was a coffee table underneath it. She looked around the room to see if she could find Chuck and, low and behold, there he was, atop his own king sized bed, while two women were atop him, all three of them just as dead as Nate looked. With a shake of her head, Tori turned to find something to throw her brother's way, but froze when she heard a phone start buzzing, shifting her gaze to the mess on the coffee table, where Nate's phone was currently buzzing. With a loud groan, Nate woke up and reached over to pick it up, putting the phone to his ear and freezing when he noticed that Tori was standing right behind the couch.

"Hello?" he said, seeming to be talking to whoever was on the other end and Tori at the same time.

"I'll just go," she whispered, turning away to leave the room, but Nate gestured for her to stop, shifting in the couch to get up.

"No, I'm up," he replied to the caller, trying to hide a smile when Tori stepped back towards the couch reluctantly, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.

"I just came to see if you guys were awake, so I guess my work is done here," Tori told him, her eyes shifting to her brother's bed when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh right, of course," Nate said, hanging up the phone and throwing it back on the table, causing Chuck to stir as Nate stood up to greet Tori.

"Nathaniel, keep it down, some of us are trying to regain our-" Chuck started to complain, before he realized Tori was also in the room, freezing on the bed like a deer in headlights, giving Tori a strange sense of satisfaction.

"Your dad's brunch is today," Nate told him, shuffling over to Tori, who stepped away from him, not feeling like dealing with him at that current time.

"Alarm's set for nine," Chuck told him almost robotically, closing his eyes and dropping his head back to the pillow, seeming to try and pretend Tori wasn't there, so she would leave.

"It's ten Chuck," Tori informed him, rolling her eyes, shifting the strap on her handbag, her nervous tick coming in full force as she stood between the two boys she was planning on avoiding. With an overly dramatic groan, Chuck pushed himself all the way up, trying his best to avoid Tori's eyes as he pushed the two women out of the way, like a pair of ragdolls.

"Ladies, double time," Chuck told the girls, moving to the end of the bed. He looked like he was about to say something to Nate but, when he finally met Tori's hard gaze, he closed his mouth, getting up to go and grab his robe.

"Maybe you could get these boys some coffee and water, to sober them up a little, since you ladies didn't seem to do such a good job," Tori smirked, her grin widening when she saw the look on their faces.

"And did you want ice with that princess? Because he could definitely use some ice," one of the women asked, pointing playfully at Chuck's black eye.

"That's enough ladies. And I'll be sure to tell my father just how committed you are to the hospitality industry," Chuck said, pulling the two girls away to his front door, trying to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Just as they were leaving sight, Tori gave them both a small waving, mocking them ever so slightly as they disappeared from view.

"So, it looks like that black eye is showing up really good this morning," Tori smirked, following behind Nate over to the bar, choosing to stand closer to the door, preparing herself to go out the door, to go see Blair.

"He definitely popped your brother good. Never mess with a guy's sister" Nate agreed, giving Tori another smile, but choosing to frown instead, when she didn't return the favour.

"If I knew his name, I would hunt him down and kill him," Chuck informed them, pouring alcohol into a blender, not seeming to care about the dirty looks Tori was giving him anymore.

"What, cause you kill people now? You gonna strangle him with your scarf?" Nate mocked, throwing Chuck's signature scarf at him, making Tori roll her eyes.

"Don't mock the scarf Nathaniel, it's my signature," Chuck told him, pouring a green powder into the blender next, the contents Tori was unsure of.

"Death by scarf, not that intimidating," Nate bit back sarcastically, the pair seeming to have forgotten that Tori was even still there. Why was she still there?

"He sucker punched me, I told you. Besides, better a broken nose, then a broken heart," Chuck told him, putting the finishing touches onto his drink, giving Nate a knowing look, who glanced briefly at Tori.

"Wait, I didn't even talk to Serena last night," Nate told him, lying through his teeth.

"Who said anything about Serena?" Chuck asked with a smirk, starting up his blender, finally taking the time to notice Tori again. "Why are you here exactly, I thought you were done with me?"

"As much I would love to stop helping you, I didn't think you would want to face father's wrath if you missed his brunch, so I came here to wake up, while I picked something out to wear for said brunch. I was only going to wake you up and leave, but then this guy kept me around," Tori replied, crossing her arms again, cringing when Chuck poured his concoction into a glass.

"I knew you'd never leave me to die at father's hand," Chuck grinned, downing his drink in a few gulps, looking to Nate to drink his own, who drank it reluctantly, never taking his eyes off of Tori.

"No, I'd prefer you to die at my hand actually," Tori deadpanned, wiping the smile right off of Chuck's face, his moment of triumph disappearing as soon as it had appeared.

"And on that note, I think I'm going to go have a shower," Chuck said, quickly walking past Tori, trying to escape his sister as quickly as he could, leaving her and Nate alone.

"And on that note, I had better be going now," Tori said, turning around and walking to the door, which Nate annoyingly followed her to, grabbing her arm before she could walk out.

"Are we okay? After last night I mean. It didn't exactly go as I had planned it to go," Nate admitted, letting go of her arm when she span around to face him.

"We're fine Nate, couldn't be better. But, if I ever want to have any chance of staying in Blair's good books, and on top of the food chain, then I highly doubt we'll be able to be friends until she can trust me, and even then, I don't expect any one on one time in our future," she told him calmly, having rehearsed in her head what she was going to say on her way there, just in case this exchange happened.

"Maybe she'll be nice, and let us stay friends, it's not like I slept with you or anything, it was just one drunken kiss, like you said," he pointed out hopefully, getting a small smile out of Tori.

"Ever the optimist Archibald, something I've always liked about you. Never change." Tori turned around and tried to leave again, but Nate stopped her one last time, only placing a hand on her shoulder this time around.

"Just one last thing. If I wasn't tied down to Blair, would you and I ever have a chance?" Tori turned her head to look at him sadly, hating the answer that came straight to her mind when he asked her. As much as she wanted to say what she was thinking right now, she knew that, if she wanted to keep her plans on track, to be Queen Bee, for now, she had to tell him a lie.

"No. I don't think we would."

 _It's almost time for brunch everyone and it looks like T has her work cut out for her. Not only will she have to deal with an awkward rebuilding of her friendship with B, she'll also have to juggle her brotherly issues and whatever seems to be happening between her and Nate Archibald. Will she be able to cope with all this drama, or will her little balancing act fail miserably. Stay tuned Upper East Siders, things are going to get interesting._

* * *

 **So, after a long two months of not submitting anything, I have finally written another chapter!**

 **Sorry this took so long, life has just been pretty hectic lately, and I just didn't have any time to do anything for myself recently, but here I am, and hopefully with a few more chapters over the next couple of days.**

 **And also, to address TheBookFairyXx, it's only the start of the story, so don't worry, I'll be trying to show their relationship, like I kind of did in this chapter, as time goes by.**

 **Be sure to leave a review for me, and I'll be back soon.**

 **Love you guys :D**


	9. Chapter 9 - A Blair Scorned

Time for another long walk off a short pier, Tori thought as she approached the elevator of the building Blair lives in, having to face the music of the previous day's events. This was not going to be pretty. How is it that Tori had put herself in another awkward situation within the same hour? If it wasn't bad enough that she had just left her brother's place after having an awkward conversation with Nate, now she was going to apologize to Blair, something she never did, for anyone, ever. Tori was starting to feel like the whole wanting to be Queen Bee plan may not be worth it after all. She stepped into the golden elevator and pressed the button for Blair's apartment, the metal doors closing in front of her, sealing her fate as it brought her to her doom. As much as she tried to make this a positive moment, there was really no way to put a positive spin on what she was about to go through. There was a loud ding and the doors slid open, revealing Blair's luxurious home, allowing her to step out into the hall, starting the long walk to her inevitable shame.

"Blair? Are you here? I know I should've called ahead, but I thought it would be better that you weren't expecting me, so you wouldn't try to disappear on me," Tori called into the house, looking into the living room and finding no sign of Blair, moving to the dining room to look for her.

"I know that a lot happened yesterday, and most of it was my fault, but all I want to do is smooth things over. You don't really want to lose our friendship over something that happened ages ago, and didn't even mean anything to me," Tori continued, ducking her head into the kitchen and finding no sign of Blair or even Dorota, which was rather strange.

"I think you mean all of it was your fault." Tori span around on her heels to face Blair, who was standing in the door frame behind her, still in her night gown and robe, having not gotten dressed for brunch yet.

"And I'm happy to take all the blame, I just wanted to try and talk, see if we can figure things out," Tori said, not believing a single word that was coming out of her mouth.

"What's there to smooth out? You made out with my boyfriend and, instead of choosing to make up straight away, you verbally attacked me, in front of everyone we know. If that's what smoothing out means, you seriously need to try opening a dictionary once in a while," Blair snapped, turning away and walking out of the room, with Tori right on her heels.

"I know last night may have gotten a little out of hand, but you have to admit, you were just as bad as I was," Tori informed her, almost running right into Blair when she stopped in her tracks, turning her head to glare at Tori.

"I was only defending myself from a crazed, boyfriend stealing, lunatic," she growled, continuing her walk towards her staircase, mounting the stairs and heading up to her room, while Tori stumble up them behind her.

"I guess I can accept that. I just really want to make things right, set everything straight, so we don't keep fighting, you know how I hate to fight with people. Unless it's Chuck. Or Kati. Or my father. Maybe my chauffer on occasion…" Tori trailed off, quickly scampering after Blair as she quickened her pace, heading towards her room.

"I just love hearing about all the fighting you don't like to do. I would just love to see you when you actually want to fight someone," Blair sassed, stepping into her room and trying to slam the door, only for Tori to grab it just before it closed.

"Can you please just listen?" Tori snapped, gripping the door tightly as Blair tried to close it. With a soft sigh, Blair swung the door open and stood there with her arms crossed, staring Tori down angrily.

"You have one minute." Blair turned around and walked over to her bed, sitting down on the very end, watching Tori closely as she walked over, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to say.

"Okay, I know what happened between me and Nate was bad, it never should've happened in the first place, but it only happened that one time Blair, well two times I guess, but I promise, I would never purposefully hurt you, and I wouldn't go after Nate if I wanted to anyway. Then of course there's the Serena thing, which I still don't know much about, but I'm willing to at least take your side, because what are friends for? If I hadn't been friends with Serena, then we may have never become friends with each other. I mean, you have to admit, before Serena, we wanted to brutally kill each regularly, but now, we're practically inseparable to a fault aren't we?" Tori stopped to take a breath, keeping her eye on Blair, who seemed to be thinking over what was being said.

"Continue," she said, leaning back on her arms, watching Tori intently, her previous anger seeming to slowly fade away.

"Now, I know that just saying I'm sorry won't be able to make up for what has happened between us, but I think it may at least be a good start, starting me on a road of groveling, spa treatments and buying all your coffee, until you're able to trust me again. None of it may be enough to even get me halfway there but, if you're willing to try and get our friendship back on track, then I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get us there." Tori watched Blair with hopeful eyes, hoping that she would buy everything Tori had just said, since she didn't quite believe her own lies she had just been spouting out. A minute or so later, Blair seemed to have come to a decision and stood up from her bed and walked over to Tori, pulling her into a quick hug, before pulling away to face Tori.

"I'm willing to be your BFF again, but it will be on a trial basis. You will do everything I say, when I ask you to do it, no questions asked, and you can still keep the same level of power you've always had in our school hierarchy. I'll be sure to write you up a contract with some rules so, if you break any of them, your life at school will be over, like last year's Gucci," Blair informed her, locking in Tori's gaze, practically daring her to look away.

"I accept your terms," Tori told her, trying her best to keep a straight face, not wanting to show an inch of weakness in front of the current Queen Bee.

"Good, now how about a small snack before brunch, I'm sure Serena forgot to feed you this morning before you left her place," Blair smiled, her previous anger having washed away into oblivion as she walked past Tori to go back out into the hall.

"You're being nice to me again? Just like that? And how did you know I stayed at Serena's?" Tori questioned, following behind Blair as they headed for the stairs.

"Please, we live in a world where Gossip Girl exists; it wasn't hard for me to find out where you ended up last night. And the nice part? Well let's just say I'm in a good mood this morning." The pair started making their way down the stairs and heard the telltale ding of the elevator doors opening, the pair wondering who else could be visiting Blair at this time of the morning. And of course, it was Serena. "And my good mood is gone."

"Blair, Tori," Serena greeted the two girls, walking up to them both with a big smile on her face.

"Serena," both girls said in unison, stepping down to the last step, so both were standing higher than their visitor.

"Hey, I got us some bone caps and Audrey," Serena informed them, displaying the items in her hands, giving Tori a questioning look, which Tori didn't return.

"I must've totally blanked on the part where I invited you over," Blair fake smiled, clicking her fingers in Tori's face and pushing past Serena, with Tori not far behind, an apologetic look on her face as she passed Serena herself.

"I called you. Blair, it's Sunday morning, coffee, croissants, Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's our tradition," Serena told Blair, walking up behind the pair, looking between her two friends.

"We have new traditions now," Blair informed her, giving Tori a knowing look as she walked over to the couch with her paper, her gaze never leaving Serena as Tori sat down on the other couch nearby.

"Well they're not traditions if they're new," Serena told her, only succeeding in making Blair's smile even wider. With an annoyed sigh, Serena walked over and sat beside Blair, trying to figure out what else she could say. Tori looked at Blair hopefully, wanting her to forgive Serena like she had for her only a few minutes ago, but Blair wasn't about to give up that easily. "Look Blair, I'm really trying to make an effort here, you seem to have even forgiven Tori. I thought everything was good between us."

"It was, and I have forgiven her. At least she didn't have sex with my boyfriend." Tori looked up from the ground and looked at Serena, finally understanding why Blair hated Serena so much, understanding why it was easier to forgive Tori and not her. Serena seemed to be at a loss for words, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to look anywhere but at Blair, before finally being able to get some words out.

"How'd you find out?" she asked, her gaze shifting to Tori, almost accusingly.

"It wasn't Tori, if that's what you're thinking. Nate told me. About you, and her. At least he felt he owed it to me to tell me the truth," Blair told her, briefly throwing an icy glare Tori's way, before focusing on Serena again.

"I don't know what to say," Serena said quietly, having lost her previous nerve.

"Don't bother saying anything. I wouldn't believe you anyway." Blair closed her paper and stood from the couch, clicking her fingers again to get Tori to stand up and follow her, who didn't want to get back in her bad books when she was just barely out of them.

"Blair, it was-" Serena tried to explain, only for Blair to cut her off.

"You know, I always knew you were a whore. I never took you for a liar too," Blair deadpanned, shocking Tori with her harsh words.

"Blair, how can I fix this?" Serena asked genuinely, the hope in her eyes barely noticeable through the hurt that was currently holding them captive.

"You don't Serena. You just stay away. From me, my boyfriend, from Tori, and my friends. You're done here." Blair turned to look at Tori, her eyes practically screaming at her to say something and agree with her. Tori looked at the hurt in Serena's eyes, and back at Blair's hard glare and looked down at the ground, regretting the words that were about to leave her mouth.

"You should probably go, you're done here," she said, not being able to lift her eyes from the ground.

 _Serena's visit was short, and apparently not very sweet, but you know what is? Revenge. We hear it's best served cold, which looks like it goes double for Tori today. Who's hungry?_

* * *

 **Hey guys, long time no see ^_^**

 **It's been aggggggggggges since I updated this story, and I am so so so sorry about that, I kind of just lost motivation to do any writing at all for a while, and I'm only just getting back on the horse.**

 **I'm planning to go back and fix up previous chapters, so I can make sure there is only third person view, to avoid any confusion, thanks for pointing that out guest reviewer, whose name I don't know :P**

 **I know this is a short one, but it is also a crucial one, to show Tori's desperation to be Queen Bee, and the lengths she will go to finally steal that from Blair, even if it means potentially losing those she holds close. I hope you all liked it.**

 **Be sure to leave a review, so I can hear your thoughts, ideas and critiques, and I will be adding more chapters soon.**

 **Can't wait to hear from you ^_^**


	10. Chapter 10 - Little Jenny Humphrey

Tori stared at her phone, which was resting on the bench in front of her, contemplating texting Serena to make sure she was okay after their little exchange. Although she had to admit she was rather shocked and disappointed at what she had done with Nate, at least now Tori understood why Serena had just left out of the blue, leaving Tori behind to clean up her mess. The only reason she had even gone along with Blair was because she had to stay in her good books, to make all of this okay, she just had to keep telling herself that. If she had done anything else, then Blair would've kicked her out along with Serena, what other choice did she have? Continuing her plan to overthrow Blair as Queen Bee was worth it in the long run, even if it meant throwing a few harsh words here and there to get what she wanted. Right? And at that moment, Tori realized just how much she sounded like Blair. At least she'd pull off being Queen Bee, if that time ever rolled around.

"So, I have some new stuff up in my closet, which I think would be perfect for you to wear to brunch today." Tori looked up from her phone to watch Blair walk over to her, bringing a glass of orange juice, sliding it across the table at Tori's request.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Tori questioned in confusion, taking a small sip of her juice.

"Well, although your little ensemble is cute, it's not really suited for an Upper East Side brunch, wouldn't you agree?" she asked sweetly, giving the hint of an evil smile that she was so well known for.

"I guess I could find something else to change into, if you don't mind me looking through your clothes," Tori replied, taking a bigger sip of her drink, which turned into a long draught of her juice.

"Of course, what are friends for, but to share what we own. Well, not everything we own," Blair laughed, stepping away from Tori to find herself some food. Yep, Blair definitely knew how to be both nice and hold a grudge at the same time. Tori looked back at her phone again and decided to bite the bullet, picking it up and sliding it open, quickly shooting off a text to Serena before Blair noticed what she was doing.

 _Sorry about what happened, I felt bad for what I said. Staying in Blair's good books is harder than it looks_

Tori finished off her message and quickly hid her phone in her lap, smiling at Blair when she gave Tori a strange look.

"So should we start getting ready then?" Tori asked, standing up from her stool, finishing off her orange juice before walking around to stand with Blair, who had just taken a bite out of an apple. Before she could answer Tori, both of them heard the ding of the elevator at the same time, both of them coming to the same conclusion as the other. Blair took off at a brisk pace with Tori following closely behind, regretting giving the option of doing everything Blair says for as long as it takes. Being a slave was hard work.

"Dorota, I told you I didn't want to see anyone," Blair shouted down the hall, stopping in her tracks, putting her hand up to stop Tori as well, both of them staring right at Jenny Humphrey. This should be good. "Hi Jenny."

"Hi," Jenny said sweetly, smiling at Blair, her smile widening when she made eye contact with Tori.

"What do you want?" Blair asked, her own smile being one of interest, rather than necessity, as she walked over to sit on the couch.

"I realized that I still had your calligraphy pens from the party invitations, and thought you might need them for something," Jenny replied, handing over said pens to Blair, who gave her an amused look.

"That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard," Blair informed her, her amusement growing as she realized the real reason Jenny had shown up out of the blue, the same reason Tori had thought of as well. "You want to know what Chuck Bass is saying about you."

"No," Jenny lied, her interested face betraying her words. "Is he, saying things? Is anyone?"

"Chuck doesn't like to brag about his victims, only his conquests, makes for better PR," Tori explained, sitting down beside Blair, who was smiling at her.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," she said, shifting her attention back to Jenny, who seemed to be a little downtrodden after the two girl's words.

"Why doesn't Jenny help us get ready for brunch today?" Tori suggested, looking to Blair for approval, who gave her a curt nod, standing up to face Jenny.

"That would be nice," she smiled, staring Jenny right in the eye, waiting for the right response.

"Okay, sure," Jenny smiled back, moving out of the way to allow Blair to pass, going to follow her, before Tori stopped her in her tracks.

"We'll be up in a minute Blair, I just want to ask Jenny something," Tori called after Blair, who waved her hand at them absentmindedly.

"Take your time, I'm usually fashionably late anyway," she crooned, ascending the staircase slowly, her robe billowing out behind her like she was royalty.

"Nice flowers," Jenny called after her, seeming to be mesmerized by Blair's departure.

"They're hydrangeas," Blair called over her shoulder, disappearing from view when she reached the landing, leaving Tori and Jenny alone in the living room.

"Are you okay, you know, after what happened with Chuck last night?" Tori asked, sitting back down on the couch, motioning for Jenny to join her.

"I'll admit that I'm still somewhat traumatized by what happened, but I'm a Humphrey, we're thick skinned. Not in the literal way, cause that would be weird, like metaphorically speaking, not that there's anything wrong with thick skinned people," Jenny babbled on, her nerves emanating through her slightly shaking words, making Tori smile a little.

"You're allowed to feel it you know, you're around me, and I'm always a head case, so you don't have to hide anything from me. Okay?" Jenny looked directly at Tori and gave her a smile, nodding at her words, seeming to relax just a little bit more.

"I really am fine though, he didn't get very far before Dan clocked him in the face. Although I have to say, I think his fist may be more bruised than Chuck's eye," Jenny giggled, making Tori smile at just how optimistic she was being about the whole situation.

"How is Dan by the way?" Tori asked Jenny, the memory of his awkward wave still fresh in her mind.

"Well, his ego was a little bruised at how badly he'd messed up the end of the date last night, but it didn't take him long to bounce back. He should be trying to talk to Serena right now, so he can clear things up a little," Jenny answered, amusing Tori at the thought of Dan Humphrey trying to explain his awkward little wave.

"That would definitely be a sight to see," Tori laughed, looking down at her phone when it started vibrating, a message from Serena coming through.

"Is everything alright?"Jenny asked, looking at Tori worriedly, who just smiled in return.

"I'm fine, don't worry. Why don't you head up to Blair, I'll be right behind you." Jenny gave Tori a happy smile and bounced up from her seat, walking over to the stairs and making her way up, looking excited to be walking on the marble steps. Guess those steps at her Brooklyn apartment just don't compare. When she vanished up the stairs, Tori checked her messages and read through the whole thing, slight relief flooding over her from what she read.

 _It's fine, I know you didn't have much choice, Blair can be a maniacal dictator when she wants to be, something that hasn't changed much since I left. I'll see you at brunch today, whether Blair wants me there or not – S_

With a small smile at Serena's words, Tori got up from the couch and walked over to the stairs, taking the long walk up to Blair's room, ready to see what selection Blair had in store for her to wear today.

"Wow Blair, it's beautiful. I mean, you look beautiful." Jenny looked at Blair in awe, the blue dress she was wearing hugging snuggly to her curves, while still leaving plenty to the imagination.

"We've seen better," Tori said over her shoulder, continuing to rifle through Blair's closet, having trouble deciding between a white and a red dress.

"She's right, it's average. The colour is last season, and besides, Stella McCartney has a much better version at Bergdorf's," Blair droned, looking at her reflection in slight disappointment, turning around to unzip herself out of her dress, letting it fall to the floor.

"Right, I've been meaning to go by Bergdorf's," Jenny smiled, Tori noticing her eyes looking down a little.

"Isn't she adorable?" Tori asked with a chuckle, getting an amused smile from Blair as she tried on a purple dress. Jenny sat in her seat awkwardly, seeming to be looking for something else to talk about, to avoid the silence falling over the trio.

"Wow, these dolls are great. Oh my god, you have a Cabbage Patch. My brother used to have one of thee. His name was Cedric," Jenny told the girls amusing Tori at her choice of topic. On the plus side, she now had a bit of blackmail material to use on Dan later.

"Your brother's name is Cedric?" Blair asked in amusement, not seeming to be impressed with the purple dress she was wearing.

"No, I think she's talking about his Cabbage Patch kid. Her brother's name is Dan," Tori explained for Jenny, who nodded her head in agreement.

"Actually, you might know him. He went out with Serena last night," Jenny told Blair, shifting her focus from the doll to Blair, who seemed to be giving up for a moment, going to slip her robe back on.

"That's your brother?" Blair asked in surprised, sharing an amused look with Tori, who decided to forget about the red and white dresses, to try on a salmon colored one. "So does that mean you're friends with Serena now?"

"I mean, I don't have a problem with her, but if someone did have a problem with her, I wouldn't have a problem with that either," Jenny told Blair, impressing Tori with her words. She definitely knew how to play the game. Blair gave Jenny an amused smile before going over to sit on her sofa, watching Jenny closely as she walked over.

"You know, if you like that dress, you can have it," Blair told her with a smile, winking at Tori, who was admitting herself in the dress she picked out.

"What? No, no," Jenny said in disbelief, laughing a little, not believing Blair's words.

"I'm sure you'll find some way to repay me," Blair assured her, the smirk on her lips never disappearing.

"Oh Blair, thank you. I mean, for the dress and… for the other thing, about Chuck," Jenny smiled, seeming to be slightly embarrassed. All Blair did was continue to smile at Jenny, nodding to Tori, who stepped away from the mirror to address Jenny.

"If you want to be a part of this world Little J, people will talk, eventually. And you just need to figure out if it's all going to be worth it in the end. The Upper East Side isn't for the faint of heart. I learnt that the hard way," Tori told her with a smile, noticing Blair give a little giggle.

"Little J. I like the sound of that," she laughed, moving back over to her bed to keep looking for a dress to wear.

"Blair, what do you think?" Tori asked, displaying her chosen dress to Blair. She looked up from her own selection of outfits and scanned Tori, looking over every inch of her before finally coming to a decision.

"It'll do."

* * *

 **Here's the next chapter for all you wonderful people ^_^**

 **So, I know haven't been posting a lot lately, and I sincerely apologise for that, I've been working on my next story and I kind of got preoccupied with that one.**

 **If all goes according to plan, I should be able to get into a good writing groove and somehow be able to write three different stories all at the same time (fingers crossed I mean it this time).**

 **Please be sure to leave a review, I love hearing from you guys, reviewers have always been able to help me improve my writing :)**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the next chapter, when we go to brunch ;)**


	11. Chapter 11 - Act of Defiance

Once Blair had finally chosen a dress to wear, and had seen Jenny to the door, she and Tori were finally ready to head to brunch, the latter having been given a few rules to live by while they were there. Tori was to avoid talking to Nate at all costs, Blair wasn't ready to trust the pair near each other until she was able to somehow stop Nate from falling back into bad habits. If Serena happened to show up at brunch, Tori also had to avoid talking to her, nothing above polite conversation in front of the adults to keep up appearances. So in other words, Tori wasn't allowed to talk to the people that she actually liked talking to, being stuck with only Kati and Isabel for interesting conversation, not really wanting to get involved in the conversations she knew Chuck would be having. Blair also had a new plan forming in her head, one she was regularly updating Tori on, that would be a good way to get to Serena in her eyes. Tori still regretted becoming her personal slave. The pair arrived at brunch fashionably late, greeting their friends as they stepped into the lavishly decorated room. Multiple women stood around the room, dressed and painted to look like the pillars, always managing to confuse Tori as to why they were there in the first place. The buffet was full of many different kinds of foods, a lot of it being light pastries and fruit, to help keep the women's figures nice and slim. If Tori was being honest, she really wanted there to be some greasy food, she was definitely not a light eater. Before Tori had a chance to go and sit with her friends at their table, Tori saw her father nearby, gesturing for her to come over and talk to him.

"Glad you could make it, you must have a busy schedule to be arriving so late," Bart said, giving his daughter a stern look.

"It's good to see you to father," Tori smiled, not wanting to let him get to her after the day's events.

"Would you mind explaining how your brother managed to get a black eye, the day after we spoke about how much trouble he is in?" Bart questioned, glancing over at Chuck, who was already laughing away with the group, stealing glances at his family watching him nearby.

"Just a misunderstanding, nothing for you to worry about father. I'm handling it," Tori informed him, smiling at guests as they walked past.

"You had better handle it, I don't need any bad press right now, the company doesn't need it. Straighten him out, or I will," Bart told her, a small smirk appearing on his face when he saw Lily, something that didn't go unnoticed by his daughter.

"Bart, Victoria, so nice to see you both," Lily greeted, giving Tori a hug before turning to Bart and awkwardly shaking his hand.

"I think I'm going to go and sit with the others, let you two talk," Tori said, excusing herself from the conversation, walking over to sit beside Chuck, the seat beside him being the only one left at the table.

"…and then he drove the golf cart into the pond," Blair laughed, making the whole table laugh at the story of, what Tori assumed to be, when Blair went golfing with the Archibald's during school break.

"If the caddy had gotten out of the way faster, it wouldn't have happened," Nate argued with a laugh, he and Blair seeming to be in their element once again, like nothing had ever happened between them.

"On the plus side, the cart was undamaged, just got a little wet, unlike Nate, who got drenched," Blair said, continuing on with the story, glancing over at Tori, gesturing for her to say something.

"What about the caddy? Didn't he end up getting fired or something?" Tori asked in fake interest, having already heard the story at least six times since Blair returned from the trip.

"Of course, how could I forget. After the little incident, Nate's parents called the manager over to do something about his staff and, when they talked to the caddy, he was high as a kite. So, he was fired right on the spot. Just imagine what he could've done if we hadn't called the manager over when we did. People's games would've been thrown right off," Blair informed the whole table, smiling when everyone gave nods of approval, not noticing the look Nate and Tori exchanged at her expense, small smiles touching their lips.

"Here's to Blair, for saving golfers from very embarrassing games," Tori announced, raising the glass of water in front of her, clinking it with all the occupants of the table. As the rest of the people at the table started to have their own private conversations, Tori felt Chuck's eyes on her, making her turn her head to look at her brother. "What?"

"I'm sorry," he said, shifting his gaze away from his sister, taking a quick swig of a flask he had stored in his pocket.

"Sorry for what exactly? I'm sure there's a long list of things you need to apologize for, and a some of it is meant for some other people, I'm sure," Tori observed, staring right at her brother with a hard gaze.

"I'm sorry for disappointing you again, something I seem to be an expert at," Chuck reiterated, surprising Tori that was actually apologizing, a very rare thing for him to do.

"There's something I never thought I'd hear you say," Tori admitted, softening her gaze when Chuck got up the courage to look at his sister again.

"You already know I'm never going to change who I am, I'm always going to act like this, like a horny, stuck up, rich boy. But if you ever need me to do something for you, no matter what it is, I will be there for you, something you should've been able to count on back at Kiss on the Lips. As much as a I hate to admit it, I don't like the thought of you hating me. Father I can handle, he's always been an ass to us, but you're the only one that's ever bothered to actually care about me, no matter how stupid I've been. Do you think you can forgive me?" he questioned, his eyes never leaving Tori as she thought over what he had just said.

"I suppose I can forgive you, for now. It might take a little while to get past the Jenny thing but, the joy of being related to you, I'm morally forced to take you at your word," Tori replied, smiling back at her brother when he gave her his winning grin.

"I promise I'll be a good big brother. I can't promise I'll behave on every occasion though," Chuck smirked, allowing Tori to playfully shove him.

"As long as you don't do anything too big and stupid again, I think you'll be fine," Tori laughed, noticing Blair staring at something in the distance.

"You've got to be kidding," Blair laughed in annoyance, her grip tightening on her glass, almost enough so that it could shatter in her hand at any second. Getting a little confused by Blair's words, Tori followed her gaze over to the entrance into the room and there, standing right beside Dan Humphrey, was Serena. Looks like it was time for brunch's usual dose of drama to begin.

"This should be fun," Chuck smirked, his smile vanishing when he looked at Tori, who gave him a stern look. Tori turned her attention back to Serena and Dan, watching the pair awkwardly stand in the entrance a few more seconds, before moving into the room, making a beeline for the buffet table.

"I can't deal with this right now," Blair groaned, getting up from her seat and walking away, with Kati and Isabel not far behind her, while Chuck stood up from his own seat, his gaze never leaving Dan. Before Tori had a chance to follow the girls, or say anything to her brother, she noticed Nate stand up as well, his gaze on Serena.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tori questioned accusingly, standing up from her seat to block Nate's view of Serena.

"I just want to talk to her, straighten things out," Nate informed her, making to walk past her, only for Tori to move in front of him.

'That sounds like a smart idea," Chuck smirked, making Tori roll her eyes, still standing her ground in front of Nate.

"Shut up Chuck, you're not helping," Tori snapped, turning her attention back to Nate. "Do you really think Blair will be okay with that? I barely came out of your little secret telling session with her alive last time. Talk to Serena now, and none of us will live to tell the tale."

"Blair doesn't have to know. This is the last time I will talk to her. I just need to get this over with. Please?" Nate practically begged, his signature puppy dog eyes drawing Tori like they always had.

"Fine go talk to her, but please don't let Blair catch you, she'll have my head if she finds out I let you talk to Serena," Tori sighed, getting taken by surprised when Nate hugged her before walking away, leaving her alone once again with Chuck.

"Because that is going to go well," Chuck smirked, glancing at his sister as she walked over to stand beside him.

"I figure if he gets this talk out of his system, he might finally stop stuffing up his love life. Worth a shot right?" Tori asked, reassuring herself more than talking to Chuck.

"If I'm on thin ice with father at the moment, then you're definitely on thin ice with Blair. I'd be careful if I were you. Wouldn't want to fall feet first into the frozen lake," Chuck told her, his gaze unwavering as he watched Dan closely. Tori watched him and Serena as well, noticing the latter step away and walk into the crowd, following her path over to Nate, the pair walking away to speak somewhere private.

"I think you should walk away, before you do something stupid again. I highly doubt you want another black eye to match the first one Humphrey gave you," Tori said, grabbing Chuck's arm and pulling him away, pushing him out to mingle, replacing Chuck to meet Dan's eyes. With a small sigh, she walked over to meet him, finding herself clearing the air with yet another person.

"Hey Victoria, long time no see," Dan greeted her nervously, taking small bites of the food on his plate, making Tori laugh at how awkward he was being.

"Please never call me that again, only adults call me that. Call me Tori, or T, if you're feeling especially brave," Tori smiled playfully, stealing food off of Dan's plate, receiving no complaints from him when she did.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, seeming to be a little more comfortable, or at least, as comfortable as someone from Brooklyn could be in such a high end event.

"Just thought I'd come over and do the best friend thing," Tori informed him, waving at some of the guests as they walked past, always keeping up her image in the public eye.

"And by that you mean what exactly?" Dan questioned in confusion, seeming to have forgotten about the food on his plate, allowing Tori to steal more.

"Well, you know, I tell you how happy I am to see that you make Serena happy. How, if you don't treat her right, or if you break your heart, I'll snap you in two and how, you'll be so unrecognizable afterward, that not even your own family will recognize you. You know, that sort of thing," Tori said with a straight face, staring right into Dan's scared eyes.

"I promise I won't hurt her, not going to happen," he laughed nervously, jumping a little when Tori started laughing.

"You are so easy to play around with Humphrey, definitely not a good trait to have when you're a part of this world, believe me. Stick close to Serena and I, and I think you might just survive," Tori informed him with a smirk, noticing Blair make a reappearance in the crowd of people, talking to Nate's father nearby.

"I thought you weren't allowed to talk to Serena? At least, that's what she told me," Dan said, glancing over at Blair himself.

"Let's just say I can be very covert when I want to be. The joy of being one of the richest bitches on the Upper East Side," Tori giggled, gesturing to herself as proof.

"What about your brother? I get the feeling he might not approve of you interacting with the guy that gave him a black eye, a guy from Brooklyn at that," Dan observed, looking over at Chuck, who was currently taking a secret swig of his flask again, putting it away again before anyone noticed.

"Please, I can handle him. The only person he's scared of as much as our father, is me. Don't worry, he won't be a problem," Tori smirked, nudging Dan in the side, to get him to relax.

"Fine, I guess I'm okay having another Upper East Side friend. If I can fit in that is," Dan sighed, looking around the room, probably to try and find Serena.

"I'm sure Serena will be able to put you through your paces, you'll be speaking snob in no time. Now, why don't you go find her, I think I have to go rescue Blair from being stuck with Mr. Archibald. See you later." After a quick goodbye, the pair parted ways, Dan moving away into the crowd to look for Serena, while Tori moved in to stand with Blair, so she wasn't alone with Mr. Archibald.

"You look beautiful as always. Where's your lovely mother today?" Tori heard Mr. Archibald say as she approached, smiling at Blair as she stood beside her.

"Paris. Must be some drama at the Atelier," Blair replied with a smile, giving Tori a quick exasperated glance before smiling at Mr. Archibald again.

"Nothing too dramatic I hope. Her line is doing very well," he told Blair, nodding to Tori when he noticed her standing beside Blair. "I was just telling my firm what a great investment she'd make. She's really going places."

"Hopefully places far, far away," Blair laughed, an uncomfortable silence following her comment, leaving Tori to save the conversation.

"I think what Blair means is, the more places she travels, the more business she'll be able to get, which means an even bigger investment for your firm, Mr. Archibald," Tori smiled, getting his attention away from Blair.

"Always thinking business I see, just like your father," he laughed, breaking the tension between the trio.

"You don't know the half of it," Blair said, smiling at Nate when he approached the small group.

"Hey, let me get you a refill, I'll be right back," Nate said, taking Blair's glass and kissing her on the cheek, before moving to walk away as quickly as he had appeared.

"I'll go with you, excuse us," Mr. Archibald said, nodding to Blair and Tori before walking away with the Nate, the pair talking once they were out of earshot.

"Thank you for saving me from that awkward conversation," Blair said, finally taking her eyes of Nate and his father, turning to Tori to give her a smile that seemed almost too genuine.

"The joy of my father only ever talking business when he sees me, I've learnt how to speak businessman. It's come in handy more than a few times," Tori smiled, glancing over at Kati and Isabel, the pair looking down at their phones when they saw Tori looking at them.

"At least talking about my mother's line isn't the worst thing to happen at the brunch today. I still can't believe Serena came here today, after everything that happened. You would think she'd get the message to not make an appearance," Blair growled angrily, looking over the crowd to try and get her sights on Serena, noticing Chuck coming up behind her.

"You know Serena, she wasn't likely to stay away just because you told her to," Tori said matter-of-factly, Blair nodding her head in agreement, turning her body to address both of the Bass twins.

"You worried about Nate?" Chuck asked innocently, already knowing the answer to his question. Blair looked right at Chuck and gave him a knowing looking, making him smirk a little at the face she was making. "Just a shot in the dark."

"I don't think she'd be stupid enough to try anything again, especially if she brought Dan Humphrey with her," Tori tried reassuring Blair, glaring at Chuck to get him to stop making the situation worse.

"This is Serena we're talking about. Who knows what she's capable of now," Blair snapped, looking to Chuck for help.

"I think you know what you need to do to get his attention," Chuck smirked, producing a room key from his pocket, the key to his suite.

"And what's that?" Blair asked, her interest piqued.

"The key to Chuck's suite," Tori muttered unhappily, hating where she knew this was going.

"Don't forget it's also the key to Nate's heart and Blair's future happiness," Chuck grinned, tilting his head to the side slightly, smiling his winning smile once more, knowing no girl had ever been able to resist it. After a few seconds of thinking, Blair plucked the key from Chuck's fingers, admiring it in her hands fondly, probably already thinking of the things she'd be doing to Nate when she got her hands on him. "I'm honored to be playing even a small role in your deflowering."

"You're disgusting," Blair and Tori said in unison, the pair exchanging a quick glance before looking back to Chuck.

"Yes I am, glad you both noticed. So why be shy? Just grab Nate and finish this. Report back with details." With a mischievous grin plastered on her lips, Blair stepped away from the Bass twins and made a beeline for Nate, grabbing him before he could disappear. All Tori could do was watch as Blair slowly moved Nate out of the room, the lust in her eyes practically drawing him in as they disappeared into the next room.

"Because that's going to end well," Tori sighed, rubbing her temple with her forefinger and thumb.

"Only time will tell."

* * *

 **Here's the next chapter for you guys to read, they've finally made it to brunch :D**

 **I know Chuck may seem a little OOC when he's apologising to Tori, but I thought, since they're siblings, and it's basically implied that Tori has been protecting him most of their lives, that she is one the few people that he can be himself around, while also showing his slightly softer side. Ain't sibling love grand? :3**

 **I'm also setting up Tori and Dan's friendship as well, which will reach a very interesting milestone in the next chapter, so I hope you guys are all ready for that when it finally rolls around.**

 **Hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter, the next chapter will be quite a long one I think, but I really love it, so hopefully you guys won't mind too much :P**


	12. Chapter 12 - Fustercluck Incoming

Now that everyone she actually wanted to talk to had disappeared to all have their own private conversations, Tori found herself talking to anyone that approached her table, having no other choice but to be polite to her father's business partners and friends. The few friends he had anyway. She'd put on her fakest smile, make a bit of small talk for a while, promote her father's business, then wait for the next guest to approach her, forcing her to start the cycle over again like clockwork. She tried having a conversation with Kati and Isabel but, given that Tori found the pair to be insufferable, it didn't take long before Tori was sitting at the table alone once more, watching all the people around her talk about things she had no interest in knowing about. She may have grown up in a world full of rich people, being surrounded by business owners, owners of fashion lines, movie producers, and all of those kinds of people, but Tori had never been too interested in talking about all that stuff. As hard she tried to be the rich snob she was born to be, she only found herself rubbing her family's money in other people's faces when the situation called for it. Sure, she liked to bitch about other people, and even be a bitch to people's faces when she was given the chance, who didn't enjoy doing that? She just hadn't found herself being in her element, like Blair had always been, her first words probably being 'Dorota, get me a skinny caramel latte in a baby bottle, stat'. The way Blair described it in Tori's case was that, although she hadn't found her true calling as a rich bitch yet, she knew that, when the time called for it, Tori would finally emerge from her cocoon and command more attention than she ever had before, owing most of her current success to her brother and Blair in the first place. Whether this was what Tori actually wanted, she wasn't sure, but one thing she did know was that, when that day did come, she'd be ready to dethrone Blair, no matter what it took to take away her crown. Wanting to find something to preoccupy herself, Tori stood up from her seat, downing her drink before stepping away from the table, looking through the crowd for someone to talk to. Before long, she spotted Dan nearby, stepping out of the large room by himself, Serena seeming to be nowhere in sight. Needing someone sane to talk to, Tori quickly followed after him, looking around the area until she saw him going out the front doors, walking over to follow him outside. Before she had a chance to say anything, Tori noticed Dan staring at something, being too focused on that to notice Tori had followed him outside. Following his gaze, Tori found her father and Lily having a private conversation, one she wasn't surprised was happening, but one she was also hoping would never happen.

"No, I do want to be seen together, I just don't want to see you with anyone else. Tell your harem of shop girls and models that you're seeing someone," Lily snapped, Tori feeling like she needed to hear the rest of the conversation to understand the context of that comment.

"I am, but those conversations take a little time," Bart reassured her, shaking his head in annoyance.

"Well they've got nothing but time Bart, they're 25," Lily groaned, looking away from him to see Dan and Tori nearby, fear filling her eyes when she saw them, Bart following her gaze to see the two teens as well. When Dan realized he had been seen, he quickly turned around to go back inside, stopping for a second to look at Tori apologetically before retreating. Lily ran up the steps to try and follow Dan, not being able to meet Tori's eyes as she went inside, stopping Dan from going too far.

"Victoria, I thought I'd taught you not to eavesdrop on people's private conversations." Tori turned to look at her father, who was slowly approaching the bottom of the steps, Tori moving down to meet him halfway, not sure how to feel about this new piece of information presented to her.

"I just happened to come out here and overhear your conversation, I wasn't eavesdropping," Tori told her father, a hint of anger in her tone of voice, not being able to believe he would think she would ever eavesdrop on him. That's what Gossip Girl was for.

"You could've turned around and gone back inside, you weren't forced to listen in," he snapped, silencing Tori, making sure she didn't say anything else. The pair stood in silence for a few seconds, Tori not being able to meet her father's gaze, before finally getting the courage to ask him the question burning at the front of her mind.

"Are you two really dating?" she questioned, looking into her father's eyes, feeling like a little girl again, a feeling she seemed to only ever experience in her father's presence.

"We are trying it out, yes. But as you saw, it isn't going to well at the moment," Bart informed her seriously, adjusting his tie, something Tori knew to be his nervous tick, after years of sitting in on his business meetings. Given that her father was rarely ever nervous around his business associates, the few times he had actually been nervous, Tori had taken notice, never taking her eyes off of her father when she was younger, in the same way Chuck had.

"Well, I hope you work it out, or don't, I don't mind either way. As long as Lily comes out of it unbroken," Tori said, turning on her heel to go back inside, leaving her father standing outside, while discovering Lily and Dan staring each other down. When the former noticed Tori had come inside, her previously angered glare became soft and apologetic, seeming to be at a loss for words, not sure how she was going to explain the situation away.

"Tori…" she began to say, before Tori put her hand up, effectively cutting her off, not wanting to hear any excuse she might have for her.

"I don't have anything to say, which means you shouldn't either. We won't say anything to Serena or Chuck until you and my father figure out what it is you're doing with each other. Come on Dan, let's go see if we can find Serena." Tori walked past Lily and grabbed Dan's wrist, dragging him away from Lily, her sad gaze falling to the ground before she went back outside, to keep talking to Bart presumably.

"You okay?" Dan asked when the pair reached the drinks table, Tori taking a glass of orange juice and downing the whole drink in the few seconds, acting like it was some form of alcohol and she was trying to drown her sorrows, something she was wishing could happen at that very moment.

"I really like Lily, I hope my father doesn't hurt her. I think I'll be fine," Tori reassured him with a weak smile, walking with him back into the crowd of people, to continue their search for Serena. Just when the afternoon seemed like it couldn't get any worse than it already was, Blair came back into the room, scanning the crowd until her eyes landed on Dan and Tori, making a beeline for the pair, a fire in her eyes that always warned Tori something bad was about to happen.

"Dan? Hi, I'm Blair Waldorf, Serena's friend, I see you've already met Tori," Blair smiled, stealing an annoyed glance at Tori which went unnoticed by Dan.

"Hey. Um yeah, me and Tori go way back. Do you happen to know where Serena might be?" he asked, looking over her shoulder to see if Serena had followed her in.

"As a matter of fact I do." Before Blair had a chance to continue, probably to say something to put Serena in a bad light, Serena came through the doors nearby, with Nate not far behind her, starting the wheels turning for the big, drama filled finale of the day's brunch. Tori was starting to wish she had stayed at home.

"Blair," Serena called over to her friend, stopping her from saying anything else.

"Serena, there you are. Where were you?" Dan asked, looking between her and Nate in confusion, his confusion becoming suspicion as he took more time to realize they had entered together.

"She was waiting in a hotel room for my boyfriend," Blair informed him, jumping in before Serena had a chance to explain her side of the story to Dan.

"To talk," Serena said, looking at Blair in disbelief while trying to reassure Dan, who wasn't looking like he believed what Serena said too much.

"About why we weren't talking," Nate agreed, trying his best to help Serena, going silent when he noticed Tori shaking her head nearby, knowing that he wasn't helping the situation.

"That doesn't sound any smarter the second time around," Blair snapped at Nate, glaring at her boyfriend angrily, causing him to back up a little, not liking the two girls on either side of him ganging up on him.

"Why weren't you talking?" Dan asked, looking between the pair again, his suspicious gaze shifting between the group around him, trying to get an answer out of any of them. Tori tried figuring out something she could say to diffuse the situation, knowing that if someone said the wrong thing, everything would fall apart, and no one would be coming out unscathed. Which is why all Tori could do was mentally face palm when Dan said his next words. "Does this have anything to do with why you were waiting for Serena this morning?"

"You were what?" Blair asked angrily, moving her anger away from Serena to put on Nate once more, staring at him in disbelief, that he had disobeyed her orders more than once in the same day. Tori looked between the four people around her, hoping that the situation couldn't get any worse than it already was. The only way it could be worse was if…

"And here I thought you were waiting for me." Tori looked to her side to look at her brother, Chuck always seeming to have a knack for turning up in conversations at exactly the wrong time.

"Chuck, this isn't really the best time for your snarky comments," Tori snapped, hating that she had managed to get trapped in the middle of yet another argument involving the same group of people once more.

"What is going on here?" Dan questioned, getting everyone's attention back on him again, all of them having almost forgotten that he was even there.

"We were just getting to that," Blair grinned, smiling evilly at Serena, who glared back at Blair, her gaze softening a few seconds later, practically begging Blair to not say anything to Dan.

"Blair, I don't think you should say anything," Tori said, backing down a little when Blair glared at her, having been cowed by that look far too many times for her to count.

"I think it's a great idea. Unless… Serena? Do you want to tell him?" Blair asked, trapping Serena once again, a skill that Blair seemed to have down to an art.

"I'll tell him," Chuck smirked, surprising Blair, Nate and Tori, making Tori more angry than surprised if she was being honest, but still surprised nonetheless.

"You know?" Blair and Nate asked at the same time, both of them looking over at Tori accusingly.

"It wasn't me," Tori told them defensively, stepping away with her hands up in surrender, not wanting to take the brunt of the pair's anger.

"Please, Tori didn't need to tell me. I know everything," Chuck smirked, winking at his sister, who only glared back at her brother, starting to wish he had stayed at home as well.

"And apparently, I know nothing," Dan exclaimed angrily, looking to Serena for answers, even glancing around at the rest of the ground once more, just wanting some form of an answer from the group.

"Look, Dan, it was a long time ago, and I regret it," Serena started to explain, moving closer to Dan, wanting to be the one to explain the situation to Dan, knowing she could soften the blow, if only a little. But of course, Chuck had to go and ruin that plan, as usual.

"Look, Serena, stop trying to pretend you're a good girl. So you slept with your best friend's boyfriend. I kind of admire you for it," Chuck smirked, wincing when Tori shoved him, her glare momentarily scaring him, all of the things he was apologizing for becoming somewhat void, thanks to the situation they were now in.

"Really Chuck, did you have to say that?" she snapped angrily, shaking her head in disappointment on behalf of her brother once again, something she was starting to become a little bit sick of.

"What? He deserves to know, doesn't he?" Chuck asked innocently, looking around the group for an answer, all of them avoiding his gaze. When no one answered, he nodded his head triumphantly, giving Tori a knowing look, making her look away to hide her anger, not wanting to meet his or anyone else's gazes.

"Is it true?" Dan asked, practically begging Serena with his eyes for it not to be true, for her to not have made such a big mistake. Serena looked him in the eyes for a few seconds before averting her gaze, shame claiming her eyes, leaving Blair wide open to keep talking, to make everything continue on its downward spiral.

"Then she ran away and lied about it. I just thought you should know before you fall head over heels for your perfect girl and her perfect world, and then get left all alone with no one but your Cabbage Patch kid," Blair told him, Tori feeling the last part was a little unnecessary, making her wish that Jenny had been smart enough to not mention that little fact about her brother.

"Cabbage Patch?" Nate asked in confusion, quieting down when Tori gave him a look to shut up, knowing from this whole situation and past experience, that he never thought about was saying before he said it.

"Did you talk to my sister?" Dan asked Blair, not being given a chance to get an answer out of her or Tori before Chuck put the icing on the drama cake, as he so loved to do.

"Ah yes, little Jenny. I do believe she and I have some unfinished business," Chuck smirked, shocking Tori that he would be stupid enough to bring that up, knowing that only bad things could follow a comment like that. When she thought about it however, she shouldn't've been surprised, it was a very Chuck thing to do.

"You stay away from her," Dan growled lowly, stepping up to Chuck threateningly, with Tori not far behind him, ready to break them up if they started fighting.

"Poor Daniel. So little time, so many sluts to defend." That was the last straw. Before anyone could stop what was happening, Dan shoved Chuck backwards, knocking him into a waiter that was holding a tray full of glasses, all of them shattering as they hit the ground. Everyone in the room turned their attention to Chuck and Dan, the pair becoming the center of attention as the former started chuckling, knowing how much trouble Dan would be in for what he had just done.

"It's fine, it's fine. Everyone can stop looking. He's a jerk. But it's my fault, and I'm leaving," Dan announced to the room, adjusting his jacket before stepping away to leave, not wanting to stay with the group any longer.

"I'll go with you," Serena said, trying to follow Dan, who turned around and gave her a hard look, catching Serena off guard, stopping her in her tracks.

"Actually, I'd prefer if you didn't," Dan told her, turning back around to exit the room, leaving Serena to watch him leave, her mask of sadness covering her face for the umpteenth time that afternoon.

"Hope you're happy," Nate said, shaking his head at Blair, who seemed just as unhappy at him, looking at him in disbelief, as if she should be the one saying that to him.

"Not even close," Blair snapped, pushing past Serena to exit the room herself, while Nate walked away in the opposite direction, leaving only Serena, Chuck and Tori standing in the middle of the chaos that had just ensued, everyone around them slowly going back to minding their own business.

"Looks like it's just the three of us now. Apparently my room is available," Chuck informed Serena with a smirk, watching her walk out of the room herself, before turning to look at Tori, who could only give him a look of disappointment, one she was hoping she wouldn't have to give him for a little while.

"That conversation was going to crash and burn all by itself without your help. Did you really have to kill everyone onboard as well?" Tori asked angrily, moving to walk away, only to be blocked by her brother, who grabbed her by the shoulders to stop her walking away.

"You know she had it coming, after what she did. Besides, Dan deserved to know what he was getting himself into," Chuck told her seriously, trying his best not to smile, but finding it seriously hard to hide the grin forming on his lips.

"I'm more disappointed in the fact that, it wasn't that long ago you were apologizing to me for being an idiot, and then you go ahead and antagonize Dan by calling his sister a slut. Did you really need to say any of that?" Tori questioned, pushing past him to try and go after Serena, Chuck following behind her a few steps before stopping, opting to call after her retreating form instead.

"You know I would never actually go after her again, I was just stirring him up. Come on Tori."

 _Some might call this a 'fustercluck', but on the Upper East Side, we call it Sunday afternoon._

Tori stepped out into the courtyard and looked around the area until she spotted Serena, who was watching the street sadly, watching Dan walk away from her, disappearing when he reached the sidewalk.

"Serena, why don't you go after him?" Tori asked, moving quickly over to her friend, who seemed to be close to tears, not being able to meet her friend's gaze for even a second.

"I should've known it was never going to work. He's from Brooklyn, I'm from the Upper East Side. I should've known he never would've been able to handle all the drama that comes in the full package that is Serena van der Woodsen," Serena told Tori sadly, walking past her to go into the hotel, not wanting to go back to disaster that was Sunday brunch.

"You guys haven't even given it a good go yet, you won't know if he can handle it until you try to work it out," Tori called after Serena, stopping her at the front doors to turn around and face Tori, looking close to tears as she stared back at her friend.

"I don't think there's anything to work out anymore," Serena told her sadly, pushing open the doors and heading into the hotel, leaving Tori standing alone in the middle of the courtyard unsure how she should handle the situation. Deciding she had to do something to help, Tori quickly pulled out her phone and made her way over to the side walk, sending off a quick text before she started looking everywhere for her target. After a few seconds of searching, she saw Dan retreating away down the side walk to her left, coming close to getting lost in the crowd of people milling about.

"Dan, wait up!" Tori shouted to him, pushing past dozens of people to reach Dan, who stopped in his tracks and turned around, seeming to be surprised when he saw Tori coming towards him. He stood at the curb waiting for Tori to catch up to him, seeming to have an amused smile on his face when she finally arrived at his position, who looked to be having a little trouble breathing properly.

"Having fun running in heels?" he teased, watching Tori in amusement as she tried catching her breath, receiving an annoyed but playful glare for his words.

"It's not as easy as it looks, believe me," Tori panted, seeming to finally catch her breath after another minute or so, straightening up to her full height to address Dan properly.

"What do you want exactly?" Dan asked, turning around to continue walking, making Tori groan as she moved to follow him, making her wish she had packed a pair of flats.

"Don't you think you should go back to Serena, try to work things out? After all, it did happen ages ago, the past is the past, no one is holding a grudge over it. Well, except Blair, but she'll hold a grudge over a girl that buys a hat before she can," Tori babbled absent-mindedly, wondering if it was too late to change her mind and just give up on saving Dan and Serena's relationship before it was too late.

"It has nothing to do with that," Dan told her, looking beside him at Tori, who gave him a knowing look, forcing him to avert his gaze in slight embarrassment. "Okay, maybe that's a part of it, but it's just everything else. I'm a Brooklyn boy, I'm not equipped to handle the drama of the Upper East Side."

"And yet, you somehow manage to survive going to our school for obnoxiously rich kids five times a week," Tori pointed out with a smile, managing to stop Dan from walking again, which Tori was overly thankful for, finally being able to stop walking on her sore feet.

"I do that so I can have a good education for college, it's not like there are many cheap schools that will give me a chance to go to Dartmouth," Dan told her, crossing his arms over his chest defensively so he could appear serious, an act that he failed at spectacularly, but Tori knew it wasn't the right time to point out that little fact.

"How much of a coincidence would it be if that was the same school Nate was planning to go to?" Tori questioned, laughing half-heartedly in the hopes of lightening the mood, only succeeding in making Dan seem more downtrodden, something Tori should've seen coming a mile away.

"You're really not helping here Tori," Dan groaned, turning to start walking again, only from Tori to grab his arm to stop him from leaving, instantly letting go when he turned around to face her once more.

"If you won't try to go back to Serena, can I at least give you a ride home? It's the least I can do after what happened back at brunch. Not my brother's finest hour. Please?" Tori asked, practically begging him to take her up on her offer, needing more time to get through to him, having run out of options. Dan stared at Tori for a minute or so, trying to decide whether she was being genuinely nice, or was just another person waiting to humiliate him, like every other person at school.

"I guess I could use a ride. But just so you know, I'm only doing this because you've helped out Jenny a lot lately," Dan informed her, slipping his hands into his pockets awkwardly, not bothering to try and be serious again, making Tori giggle a little.

"I'll take it," Tori smiled, just as her town car pulled up to the curb nearby, her chauffer always having always had the best timing since he started working for the Bass'.

"I thought we'd be taking a taxi," Dan said in surprise, walking beside Tori as they moved over to the car, his eyes travelling almost excitedly over the sleek, shiny black car.

"Please, I only do that when I want to get a taste of the local culture. My way is so much more fun," Tori smirked, winking at Dan as they reached the car, stopping at the curb a second before Dan did, smiling at the bemused look on his face. Before her driver had a chance to get out of the car and open the door for her like he usually would, Dan quickly moved ahead of Tori and opened it instead, surprising Tori a little.

"After you," Dan said, gesturing for Tori to step into the car before, making her laugh once more, Dan Humphrey never failing to impress her.

"And here I was thinking chivalry was dead. Chuck could definitely learn a thing or two from you," Tori smirked, stepping into the car with Dan not far behind, Dan giving her a smile back as he sat down and closed the door behind him.

"I think he could learn a little more than that from me."

It felt like long drive into Brooklyn that evening, being filled with Tori and Dan discussing the brunch's events, and how ridiculous the whole set up was to both of them, especially the statue women, which both agreed was unnecessary. Before long, they were pulling up to Dan's building, the pair sitting in silence for a few seconds, both awkwardly staring out the window up at the building, each waiting for the other to speak first.

"So I guess I'll see you at school," Tori said, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the pair, with Tori swearing she heard Dan breathe a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, I guess I will," Dan agreed, opening the door and stepping out of the car, closing the door behind him, walking away instantly, leaving Tori alone with her thoughts. Tori slumped back on in her seat and sighed, the day's events being almost too much for her to handle, having had enough drama to fill what she had missed while Serena was gone. Before she had a chance to tell the driver to bring her home, there was a knock at the window, surprising Tori when she saw Dan waving from the other side, making her lower the window so he could speak. "Did you want to come inside for a while? I know we haven't really talked much before today, but I know Jenny would be happy to see you again."

"I don't know, I should probably get home and try to do damage control. I have a feeling Blair is going to want to have a girl's night after what happened," Tori told him, noticing slight disappointment in Dan's eyes at her reply, something that surprised her, not thinking that he might actually want her around.

"Yeah right, of course, I understand, girl code and all that. I'll see you at school," Dan smiled, turning around to walk to his building again, his shoulders slumping only slightly as he approached the front doors. With an annoyed sigh, Tori pushed her door open and stuck her head up above the car, managing to stop Dan from leaving too quickly, having heard the sound of the car door opening.

"You realize I come with just as much drama as Serena right? Do you really want to be friends with an Upper East Side girl when you can't handle even handle her baggage?" Tori questioned, getting Dan to chuckle, surprising Tori yet again, annoying her how much he had been doing that.

"I'd like to think friendships can be slightly less complicated than relationships. Besides, I thought we were friends already? You never said otherwise at brunch," Dan pointed out, referencing the conversation the pair had had before all the real drama started to take over. With a small laugh, Tori gave Dan long hard look, weighing her options carefully, sighing when she knew what she was about to do was probably one of the stupidest things she had done that day, apart from attending brunch.

"I'll call you when I need a pick-up," Tori told her chauffer, closing the door, waiting for the car to pull away from the curb, before stepping onto the sidewalk to join a smiling Dan.

"That worked better than expected," he smirked, turning around to lead the way to his apartment, not noticing the Tori shaking her head in amusement, not believing he had managed to convince her to stay in Brooklyn once again.

"Please, this had nothing to do with you. I actually kind of like the whole rustic feel you have going here. It's a nice break from where I usually sleep," Tori admitted, quickly following behind Dan to go into the building, not wanting to be left alone outside, especially when the sun was starting to set.

"Just admit it. You're friends with a Brooklyn boy," Dan said smugly, taking the steps up to his floor two at a time, leaving Tori to quicken her pace to try and keep up with him, her heels giving her grief yet again.

"Yeah yeah, I'm friends with a Brooklyn boy, don't expect me to go shouting it from the rooftops anytime soon, especially in these heels," Tori groaned, feeling ghost blisters on her feet from all the climbing she had to do, having never worn heels for so much extraneous activity before.

"You know you could just take those off," Dan suggested, waiting at his floor's landing for Tori to catch up to him, smiling at Tori as she slowly made her way up the stairs behind him.

"And walk foot on this dirty floor barefoot? Where I could probably get some sort of gross infection? That won't be happening anytime soon," Tori panted, feeling like she really needed to get back into shape, having been sitting around at home lately, not having the motivation to keep herself fit.

"Suit yourself." The pair walked up to Dan's home and slid the door open, stepping inside the apartment that Tori had been in not that long ago, helping Jenny prepare for her first real Upper East Side party, an event that seemed like such a long time ago now.

"Yep, this place is still as rustic as I remember it," Tori observed, shuffling over to the nearby stools and sitting on the nearest one, sighing in relief, finally being able to rest her aching feet.

"Do you want me to make you coffee or tea or something?" Dan asked, stepping around the kitchen's island to stand in the kitchen itself, leaning his arms on the counter to look over at Tori, who swung her around to look back at him.

"Unless you have an espresso machine lying around here somewhere, I don't think you have anything to offer that I'd drink. Would it be rude to ask if you even owned real mugs and not paper ones?" Tori questioned, making Dan laugh at her comment, not being surprised that she would ask something like that.

"We're not that poor. How do you think we manage to go to school every year?" Dan asked back, stepping up the coffee pot, wanting to pour a cup of coffee for himself, glancing over his shoulder when Tori started to reply to his question.

"Tax evasion? Scholarships? Charity money?" Tori replied playfully, smiling at Dan's reaction, which was to freeze on the spot, stopping what he was currently doing.

"Now you're just making us sound homeless," Dan said, holding his heart with his free hand while the other pulled out two mugs from the cupboard, making Tori laugh.

"I'm sure the Humphrey's have a vast fortune of knick knacks lying around the apartment, that doesn't mean you're instantly above the poverty line," Tori joked, starting to question if her jokes were starting to go a little too far, hoping that she wasn't being too mean to him.

"I think we'll stop with the poor jokes before they get a little too far," Dan chuckled, answering Tori's question for her, smiling when she nodded her head in agreement to his statement. The pair stayed in silence for the next few minutes while Dan prepared himself coffee, pouring himself two cups, which confused Tori a little, wondering how much he need to have in one sitting. When he walked over and offered one of them to Tori, she suddenly knew why he needed to have two of them, her smile vanishing to glare at him in annoyance.

"I already told you I'm not drinking that," she barked, turning her body to face away from Dan, crossing her arms over her chest, refusing to drink what Tori assumed to be pig swill in comparison to what she would usually drink.

"Just drink it," he ordered, walking around to sit in the stool beside Tori, watching her over his mug as he took a long sip, refusing himself to give up on her giving it a try. With an annoyed sigh, Tori turned back around and cautiously picked up her mug, blowing the steam away before she took a small sip, instant relief hitting her as the warm liquid ran down her throat.

"I hate you so much right now," Tori laughed, taking a long drink of her coffee while kicking off her heels, making Dan laugh, being amused at how she suddenly forgot about all of the things she had been refusing to do previously. Just like they had been on the car ride there, Dan and Tori talked the rest of the afternoon away, completely losing track of time, so much so that, when they heard the front door slide open, they both jumped, having been too immersed in their conversation to take notice of the outside world.

"Tori? You're here, in my house, twice in one week. This is so cool," Jenny squealed excitedly, hugging Tori before she even had a chance to stand up, barely having enough time to place her second cup of coffee back on the counter.

"It's good to see you too Little J," Tori laughed, lightly pushing Jenny away so she was able to breathe again, since Jenny had been squeezing Tori a little too tightly.

"And to what do we owe the pleasure of your company again, Miss Bass?" Rufus questioned, looking like he was asking Dan for an explanation more than he was Tori, giving his son a knowing look that didn't go unnoticed by Tori.

"Well, there was a little incident that we were both involved in today, so I brought Dan home and, since I didn't really feel like going back to face my friends, I thought I'd stay here in Rustic Town so I could see Jenny again," Tori replied, winking at Jenny, whose smile only grew bigger, also throwing a wink to Dan, who moved his gaze away from her, awkwardly scratching the back of his head when he did.

"How did you and Tori end up seeing each other? Jen said you went looking for Serena. Did you find her?" Rufus questioned, putting his groceries on the bench beside Jenny's, seeming slightly amused at how the situation at managed to flip so quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, I found her, and then I lost her," Dan admitted, his previously cheerful mood seeming to vanish in an instant, something that didn't go unnoticed by his family. Jenny and Rufus shared a worried look at his words, neither of them sure of what they should say to make him feel better, having never really dealt with Dan having a girl problem before. Well, there was that one situation, but they knew it wasn't the right time to bring it up. "It's fine. It's fine, really, it's all for the best. Serena and her friends and her family, her whole world. Turns out it wasn't for me."

"I'm an exception of course," Tori laughed, trying to lighten the mood, only for Dan to get up from his stool and start walking to his room, Tori's smile vanishing when she had failed to bring Dan's happy mood back.

"Wait, Dan. What happened?" Jenny asked her brother, stopping him in his tracks, turning around to face his sister, seeming both annoyed and downtrodden at the same time.

"Did you tell Blair Waldorf about Cedric?" Dan questioned, making Tori chuckle unintentionally, instantly turning away to look anywhere other than Dan, hiding the smile ne her face.

"It may have come up," Jenny admitted, looking to Tori and Rufus for assistance, the latter deciding to follow Tori's lead and look away, focusing on the groceries on the counter.

"I thought it was cute that you used to have a Cabbage Patch kid," Tori said, standing up from her stool to walk over to stand with the siblings, giving Dan a hopeful look, hoping he didn't feel too embarrassed.

"You can't trust these people Jen, no offence," Dan told Jenny, the last part being to Tori who only shook her, who knew he meant nothing by his words, not having a single mean bone in his body.

"It's fine, if I were you, I wouldn't trust me either," Tori admitted, letting a small smile touch her lips, which Dan briefly, much to Tori's surprise, given the conversation they were having.

"Don't tell them anything. Nice flowers." With that Dan walked away to his room, Tori finally taking notice of the flowers in Jenny's hands, making her laugh, the flowers in her hands somehow taking the seriousness out of the situation for Tori.

"They're hydrangeas," Tori called after Dan, the two girls laughing like they had their own inside joke, something both of them were glad to have.

"So, do you feel like staying for dinner Victoria?" Rufus asked from the kitchen, pulling out ingredients for said dinner, watching the two girls closely, Tori noticing out of the corner of her eye the hopeful look Jenny was subtly trying to hide.

"After tasting black coffee for the first time in my life, I think I'm ready for a rustic, home cooked meal. And please, call me Tori, everyone does," Tori smiled, stepping away to follow Dan to his room, wanting to make sure he was okay, not fully sure he was over the whole brunch situation just yet. When she couldn't find him in his room, she looked out the window and saw him on the fire escape, stepping up to the windowsill to talk to him, making him jump a little when she suddenly appeared. "Hey, you okay?"

"If you want to talk, you'll have to come out here," Dan said over his shoulder, patting the spot next to him on the metal grating, barley taking his eyes off of the horizon in front of them.

"If I get some sort of foot infection or something out here, I'll be sure to punish you, rich girl style," Tori groaned, carefully stepping through the window to join Dan outside, carefully sitting down next to him, waiting for him to start talking before she said anything, feeling like she was back in therapy again.

"Sorry if anything I said in there was offensive, I just didn't need Jenny telling Blair anything else, just knowing she knows about Cedric is bad enough," Dan sighed looking out at the horizon, watching the sun slowly descending from the sky, casting the sky in a bright pink light that Tori had never really noticed before.

"Yeah, about that, I saw Cedric in your room back there. You may have a bit more to be worried about if anyone ever finds out you have that," Tori playfully teased, managing to get a chuckle out of Dan, which Tori was thankful for, having had had enough seriousness that day to last her a lifetime. Or at least a month.

"Is that meant to be some form of blackmail?" he questioned, taking his eyes off of the horizon to look at Tori, giving her a mock look of shock and fear, making her laugh.

"Only if you have plans to hide it," Tori answered, smiling at him, leaning herself against the wall of the building carefully, feeling around for anything out of the ordinary before she rested herself properly.

"Well, it's already out in the open, no use hiding it now," he told her, looking back out to the horizon, fixating on the sun, watching its slow movements as it left the sky. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, just staring at the sun as it slowly disappeared, the day becoming night at a snail pace, Tori realizing she could sit there and watch it for a long time yet. "Why'd you come out here anyway?"

"I wanted to check on you, make sure you're okay. That's what friends do isn't it?" Dan looked away from the sky once more and looked at Tori, who did the exact same thing, giving him a small smile.

"You sure you want to be friends with a Brooklyn boy?" he asked playfully, shifting himself to share the wall with Tori, who moved over a little to give him enough room, while also having some distance between them.

"Well, I'll probably have to pass it by Serena first, and I'll have to start making excuses to Blair, but I suppose I could make it work. Besides, I've had worse friends," she told him, a small frown coming to her face at the memory of the time Serena left the city for boarding school, the memory being fresh in her mind ever since Serena had come back.

"If that's the case then, as your friend, you're welcome to talk to me about anything. As long as it isn't girl stuff, Jenny can handle that," Dan smiled, laughing with Tori as they sat side by side, having shifted a little closer together, neither of them noticing that the other had done so.

"Thanks, that means a lot." Without even thinking about it, Tori kissed Dan on the check and, instantly regretting it, stood up from her seat on the metal grating and moved back into Dan's room, sticking her head out to look at him, giving him an awkward smile. "Should probably head in, starting to get a bit cold."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Dan agreed standing up, jumping back into his room to stand next to Tori, who backed away a little when he came in. The pair looked at each other for a little too long before stepping away from the window to head back into the kitchen, completely ignoring the moment the pair shared only seconds ago, both of them just being happy to have made a new friend, not wanting to complicate things.

"Tori, your phone's been vibrating non-stop for the past couple of minutes, I think Blair's trying to get in contact with you," Jenny informed Tori when the pair came back out into the main area, making Tori sigh in exasperation, not wanting to deal with Blair at that current moment.

"Thanks Jenny, I'll be right back,' Tori smiled, grabbing her phone from her bag and walking over to sit at the dining table, away from prying eyes, before looking at all the missed calls and messages from Blair, a lump forming in her throat as she read the last message.

 _So, I saw on Gossip Girl you went home with Dan Humphrey. I take it that means our little plan is going ahead?_

Tori looked up from her phone and looked at the Humphrey's sadly, her gaze falling on Dan a little longer then she felt was comfortable, before she sent a reply text, standing up and walking over to the family, like nothing had happened.

 _Everything is going according to plan. I'll get as close to Dan as possible. Serena won't know what's coming to her._

 _Well, Serena's mystery man is a mystery no longer. His name is… oh, who cares? Now that he and S are over, so are his 15 minutes, unless he gets in good with T, who he was seen leaving brunch with this afternoon. At least his sister Jenny has a chance. She was spotted with a new dress, gifted from Blair herself. Everyone knows an Eleanor original is the uniform of B's private army. But will J be a loyal soldier, or will she side with S' rebel forces? As for S herself, we hear that she left today's brunch with no friends, no boy and nowhere left to run. It looks like the ultimate insider has become a total outsider. It's your move Serena, and you know who will be watching – Gossip Girl_

* * *

 **And here it is, weeks and weeks later, the last chapter of episode 2 finally!**

 **Since it has been ages since I posted anything, I decided to make this last one a long one, since I probably won't be updating this story as much as I would like to. I've become engrossed in my The Walking Dead story recently, so my focus has sort of been fully on that, so I haven't found the time to write anything for this story in the meantime. Either way, I hope you guys patiently wait around for me to try and continue this story, so I might hopefully get back around to updating a bit more regularly.**

 **Anywho, I really love this chapter, establishing a friendship between Dan and Tori was kind of a part of my intentions, but I felt it was kind of flowing in this direction, so here it is, at a point where Tori has mixed feelings about Blair's plans for Dan and, in extension, Serena. Then of course there is Chuck, who never fails to disappoint when it comes to his bad timing, something he'll probably want to work on if he ever wants his sister to fully trust him. She does still love her brother unconditionally, but she's mostly just sick of his stupid antics, and the fact that Tori is usually the one that gets in trouble with their father, so she's kind of saving her own ass as well as her brother's :P**

 **What do you guys think is to come as the story continues? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter and the story in general, it's always nice to hear any kind of comment from you guys, as long as you don't get too rough :P**

 **Can't wait to hear from you guys, have a great day everyone ^_^**

 **P.S. I was thinking about addressing any reviews I get at the start of each new chapter, so you guys can start engaging more, but I was also thinking about doing little sneak peeks of one or two sentences, so you can get an idea of what is to come before each new chapter is posted. Thoughts?**


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